It All Comes Back
by LeslieSophia
Summary: Post- Season One, the team tries to cope with the fallout from HYDRA that affects not only the world but their personal lives and relationships. As the try to move on and rise from the dust, they find that it is a lot harder than what they expected. Will they be able to forgive and forget? Or will they remain broken? Eventual Skyeward, some Fitzsimmons. May turn M
1. Chapter 1: Skye

Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or Agents of SHIELD

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><p>"You good?" Grant Ward's dark eyes seared into Skye's as she suppressed a shiver.<p>

"Yeah, no," she breathed, looking back up at him with the same level of intensity, "I want this."

The kiss was slow at first, giving them both time and opportunity to back out. But then in a split second, they were both clutching at each other desperately, like there was no tomorrow and Ward's mouth was hard on Skye's, leaning in for more, fighting for dominance. Skye gasped when his fingers skimmed the bare skin at her waist and she tanged her hands into his shirt.

"Skye," Ward whispered as his mouth traveled down her neck.

"Oh God, Ward…" Skye heard herself say aloud. She clamped her mouth shut as he reached her collar bone to prevent any more embarrassing moans from coming out.

He lips brushed her neck as he whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Wha-?" Then she gasped again, but this time it was because she felt the cool metal of the flat of a knife sliding down her ribcage.  
>"No, no-" she tried to untangle herself from him but her hands were stuck in his shirt. The blade stopped just under her ribcage and the knife was turned to the tip was positioned at a soft spot in her stomach.<p>

"No, please, Ward, NO-!"

Skye jerked awake, her heart pounding, hair plaster to her face by cold sweat. Throwing back thte blankets, she drew her knees to her chest, rested her elbows on her knees, and held her head in her hands, trying to control her shaky breaths. After a few moments, she stumbled out of the bed, knocking over a trashcan in the process. Some nights, she threw up right after the nightmare, so she always kept a trashcan nearby. Skye crashed into the bathroom, not caring if she woke the others in their own respective rooms. Ripping off her sweat soaked pajamas, she stepped in the shower, not bothering to wait for the water to become hot. She gulped water from the showerhead, not caring if the water was contaminated, anything to stop the tears from spilling over. In her haste, she began to choke but she ignored the burning sensation in her throat and continued to drink the water.

Eventually, she got out of the shower, threw on some clothes and walked out of her motel room. The usn was just beginning to rise and Melinda May was already in the tiny courtyard doing her daily tai chi. Skye dropped down on an old, rusted bench to watch. May barely spared her a glance of acknowledgement. They spent most of their mornings in this fashion; both enjoyed the quiet companionship as they waited for the rest of the team to rise.

"Which one was is this time?" May asked in her monotonous tone as she drew her hands together in an arc and rolled back her shoulders, showing that she was done.

Skye's hand drifted to her abdomen unconsciously, "The knife." She had explained to May the gist of her nightmares, that she was with Ward and everything was normal up to the point where he killed her in some gruesome way or another. She didn't voice the part where they were almost always intimate, but she was sure that May read between the lines.

"It's been two months, Skye. I think you need to go see him." May pronounced, walking over to the bench to sit next to Skye.

The young hacktivist scoffed and crossed her arms, "So I can get more nightmares about his lies? Remind myself what he looks like? No, thanks. I remember quite well."

"You need closure."

"Well I sure as hell am not going to get it from visiting him in his jail cell!" Skye was the only member of the team that had yet to go see Ward since he had been arrested. Coulson and May had watched him from outside of his numerous temporary holding cells, never speaking to him. They had said all they wanted to say to him when he was arrested. Simmons had spoken to him first. From what Skye had gathered, it was a stiff, somewhat awkward conversation. Simmons didn't disclose what words they had exchanged but hadn't completely forgiven Ward, although she went to sleep somewhat easier after confronting him and looked a little more at peace.

Triplett had been next. There was something of a yelling match that went on while he was with Ward. That was, of course, after Ward had regained some of his voice, which was mostly due to Simmons healing. At first, Skye was furious with Simmons because she was healing him, but May explained that it would be easier to extract information from Ward if he was able to use his voice. The visit from Trip had put Ward's healing process a few weeks back, but Trip had come out of the room somehow more appeased than when he entered.

Maria Hill came after Trip. She left quickly after a thirty minute talk with Ward, so Skye wasn't sure what had gone down between the two of them and she never asked.

Fitz never went to see Ward. He was still in a coma after Simmons pulled him out of the ocean. However, Fury himself sent a doctor who reported that there were indications that Fitz would eventually wake up. Skye half suspected that the doctor was there to take care of Fitz and Simmons. Without the doctor there, the biochemist wouldn't be eating or sleeping at all. The only person Simmons trusted with caring for Fitz, other than herself, was the said doctor who made sure than Simmons reached her basic needs. The doctor was also the one who suggested that Simmons should work on Ward's damaged larynx to take her mind off Fitz every now and then. Skye saw an improvement in Simmons' mood and confidence as Ward's healing became successful.

There were many reasons that Skye gave herself for not wanting to see Ward. She didn't want to hear his excuses, his proclamations of his feelings for her. She didn't want to be fed more lies, didn't want to be led on into thinking that he was actually the good guy, only to realize that he was still evil. But most of all, she didn't want him to turn out to worse than before, somehow more evil. There was also a tiny voice in the back of her head that told her that if she saw him, she was at risk of having her feelings toward him rekindled. Really, she was just trying to protect herself.

"He's in the past now and we need to move one from that." Skye replied stonily to May, who said nothing. They sat in silence until Coulson emerged from his own motel room.

"Good morning. As soon as Agent Triplett comes out, we should head back to the Bus. We can go back to the Playground now that we've picked up the doctor for Fitzsimmons and…other necessary items." Coulson announced, straightening his tie.

"Whatever you say, AC," Skye replied before heading back to her room to collect her things. Simmons had refused to leave the Bus while Fitz was still on it. Just in case any sudden developments were made on his condition.

Once they piled into the SUV, Skye turned to Trip, a playful note in her voice, "So what do you think? Billy and Eric- twins or clones? Or maybe they're triplets and Fury has another secret base hidden, waiting to present to us in another crisis."

"Man, I don't know, they could even be quadruplets." Trip replied, shaking his head.

"What about you, AC? What do you think?" Skye asked Coulson, who was driving. He glanced up in the rearview mirror.

"It's for Fury to know-"

"And us to find out?" Skye finished skeptically, "That makes no sense. How're we supposed to rebuild SHIELD if we don't know where all our assets are and we can't take advantage of them?"

"It's better tactically. If only Fury knows, then there's a considerably smaller chance that it will be compromised." May replied smoothly, but the hidden implication was heard by all occupants of the car. _Just in case we have another traitor in our midst_. Skye looked about the window, all playfulness gone. She was beginning to doubt her words from before. Just because Ward was in the past, he still kept on coming back to them in one way or another.

Hey guys, thanks for reading! This is my first Marvel AoS fanfic and I'm pretty excited about it! I recently got into Marvel so I'm working my way through the movies. I'm not entirely sure where this story is headed so if you have any suggestions, feel free to PM me! I'm going through season one to see if I can pick up on anything, plus, I'm trying to be as accurate as possible. Reviews are greatly appreciated- let me know how I'm doing!

P.S. Next chapter's from Ward's PoV


	2. Chapter 2: Ward

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or Agents of Shield

**Special S/O to websky and Hofherrp for being my first reviewers and LisaMichelle25 for following the story! Thanks guys =) it means a lot!**

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><p><em>"<em>_You devoted your entire life to a deranged narcissist who didn't give a damn about anyone. And now he's dead…so who are you without him?" _

That was the million dollar question, now wasn't it? All Ward's life, he had followed orders: from his parents, from his brother, from Garrett. Even from Coulson. Now, he was stuck in a cell. No scratch that, it was more of a box- the walls, floor and ceiling were made of all the same material, patterned by hexagons. On the far side there was a steel table and two chairs. Against one wall was a small mattress. Everything was bolted to the ground. Ward did a double take. Hexagons. Furniture bolted down.

He was on the Bus.

Ward racked his memory, trying to remember how he got here, but it was blank. They must have drugged him.

The door opened and a petite brunette walked in, flanked by two of Fury's personal guards.

"You drugged me." Ward rasped. His voice was slowly coming back but he had been told that it might not ever be the same again. Just like Fitz.

"Yes, we needed you to be transported here." Simmons said matter-of-factly. "You remember that you agreed to be the subject of my tests and I need you close by to monitor the results. We just tested a new drug out. It knocks you out, but when you come to, you will feel no pain, no nausea. It will even calm you in the first few seconds that you are awake. It will almost be as though you have no idea that you were drugged, until you register your surroundings.

"Well, it worked. I feel nothing, physically." Ward said in his best congratulatory tone while still trying to be sincere.

"And your voice seems to be improving. Well, that's all I came here to say." Simmons noted in an upbeat but slightly nervous manner. She then paused, as if she were going to say something else, then left abruptly, her bodyguards filing out after her.

So he was on the Bus. But that meant that Skye-

"I want to see her," Ward called out, but he was too late. The door slammed shut behind the last bodyguard and he was alone again.

Ward had yet to say her name out loud. It was too symbolic for him- to pronounce those syllables that made up her name in his new voice. His arrested-traitor-damaged-voice. It was as if he believed that if he never said her name in his new voice, the recent events that transpired between him and Skye would not have happened and things could go back to the way that they were.

It didn't matter that he never said her name. Whenever he brought her up to his other visitors, they always knew who he was talking about. They didn't know exactly what had happened between the two of them and Ward wasn't about to tell them. He needed to see her, even if she spent the entire time punching him and spitting in his face. She was the only one who hadn't been to see him, other than Fitz, and he felt that he owed her an explanation, even if she wouldn't listen. He would try, but if she didn't want to hear it, then he at least needed to see her in person to make sure she didn't suffer and lasting physical injuries from the HYDRA takedown.

Shaking his head, Ward spent the next few minutes trying to determine if he really wasn't dizzy before launching into his daily workout. At least, he thought he did it daily. He wasn't allowed any timekeeping devices and no one was interested in telling him the time. The only reason that he did those workouts was to try to get his mind off things and to have something to do. He doubted that he would be in combat anytime soon, if ever, and he wasn't planning on breaking out. He was kept in solitary confinement at all hours of the day and his first visitor had been Simmons, who approached him with her proposal and a few questions. It was then when he was told that a month had passed since his arrest and Fitz still had not woken up.

After Simmons, he got a few more visitors and was moved to several different locations, using the new drugs that Simmons was perfecting. Still, he had a lot of time to himself to consider Coulson's last words to him, realizing that this internal torture was, in fact, worse than external torture.

The worst torture to him, of course, was not seeing Skye. He thought about her often, wondering what she was doing, what conclusions she had reached about him, wondering if he would ever have a chance at redemption, to prove to her that he was more than just a puppet. He thought about Raina's discoveries about Skye, her supposed "true nature." Ward worried often about whether or not she was hurt, physically and emotionally and to what degree. It pained him to think that he was the catalyst for all her problems.

Ward was also going through an existential crisis. He wasn't suicidal, just lost as to who and what he was. He had just began to think on that topic when another figure entered his prison room.

"I want to see her." He said instantly, not wanting to miss another chance. He kept his head bowed down to the ground, his elbows resting on his knees as he sat on the mattress. A pair of loafers stopped six feet away from Ward, a perfectly tailored pair of dress pants skimming the tops of the shoes. _Coulson_. Only Coulson ever worse suits on the bus.

"I don't think you are in any sort of a place to be making demands like that." Coulson remarked coolly.

Ward looked up, "It's not a demand, it's a request. All I need is five minutes."

"Let's talk HYDRA."

Ward narrowed his eyes, If he cooperated, there was a chance that they would cave and let him see Skye. Maybe even being to realize that he wasn't as evil as they thought.

"What do you want to know?"

Coulson slipped his hands into his pockets. "What remaining pockets are out there?"

"Get me a map and I'll mark them for you. " He would just have to play Good Boy. "Ah- while you're out there, tell Skye I'd like to chat."

Coulson stopped on his way to the door and half turned around to look back at the former SHIELD agent, "It's not that we won't let you see her. It's that she doesn't want to see you. You can imagine why."

Ward bowed his head to the ground again. He had known all along that this was the case, for some reason, he just needed someone to say it out loud to confirm it.

Bear with me guys, I'm almost done setting up the story. Hope you liked Ward's PoV… I'm finding it a little difficult to write from his PoV but my goal is to go between Skye and Ward. As always, I love reviews! Spoiler alert: Skye and Ward meet up next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3: Skye

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Marvel of Agents of SHIELD**

**Thanks to everyone who followed, reviewed and favorite! I can't tell you how much that means to me!**

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><p>"What's he doing here?" Skye demanded. Simmons remained quiet after she had broken the news to Skye that Ward was back on the Bus. Skye turned away from a guilty looking Simmons and rounded on Coulson, who was as cool as ever.<p>

"Simmons has been using him as a test subject and I wanted to transport him myself to his next prison cell." Coulson replied without missing a beat, "We wanted to tell you earlier, but May felt that you needed some rest and peace at the motel."

"We can't trust him," Skye said through gritted teeth and looked to Trip for support.

"There is still information that we need from him. I wouldn't trust anyone else escorting him. Besides, we still need to find a secure place to stash him." May chipped in.

Skye glared accusingly at May. The senior agent knew what Skye had been going through every night. This better not be a ploy to get her to speak with Ward.

"We don't even know that his information is accurate. It could all be a trap! Not to mention that he _knows_ the Bus. He could easily slit our throats while we're sleeping!"

"No one is forcing you to see him-" Simmons began in a small voice, but Skye ignored her.

"Trip!" The hacktivist implored of the specialist.

Antoine Trip only shrugged apologetically, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Sorry, Skye."

"Wheels up in five." May announced as if it settled things.

"Don't worry, we'll cross check his info and hook him up to the lie detector at the Playground." Coulson said reassuringly to Skye, but she wasn't convinced.

"He beat the lie detector last time," She reminded her commanding officer.

Coulson smiled grimly at Skye, "Something tells me that he was asked all the wrong questions."

"Where's Ward going once we've reached the Playground? He's not going to stay there, is he?" Skye asked of the new director as they buckled themselves into the round booth before takeoff.

"He's going to have to. There's still a lot that we don't know and right now, the Playground is the most secure place that I know of. Especially since the Fridge has been compromised."

"You mean destroyed," Trip corrected. Coulson inclined his head in the direction of the specialist in acknowledgement.

"What about the Sandbox? We could probably store Ward there, maybe ask the geniuses there if they can determine all his psychological problems."

"Don't trust it. I have yet to go check it out in person, but I think we need to focus on scooping up the rest of HYDRA before focusing on rebuilding SHIELD. We can keep them at the Playground. The place is a lot bigger than you think."

"So is Fury going to volunteer more of his men? Because I'm pretty sure the U.S. Army can't keep guard over all those specially trained agents with possible superpowers. Ooh how about we ask the Avengers for help? I'm sure this is a worthy cause for them to reunite."

Coulson shook his head as the plane began to ascend, "The Avengers think I'm dead. They're not level 7. Besides, they've all gone off the grid and I couldn't reach them even if I tried. Only Fury knows how to get in contact with them, and he's gone dark also."

"Word on the street is that Maria Hill has gone to work for Stark Enterprises. Maybe she can help. Rumor also has it that Captain America and Natasha Romanoff took down the Triskelion. Well, technically they revealed HYDRA and the Triskelion was collateral damage." Trip contributed with a tone of respect (border lining awe).

"Wait…" Skye said slowly, a mischievous look coming into her eyes, "Does that mean I'm a level 7 now?"

Coulson only gave her a cryptic smile, "Need to know basis,"

"Hold on-" Skye started, but just then, May's voice came on the intercom announcing that they had reached a safe altitude.

"I need to go talk to Ward," Coulson announced, standing up and buttoning his suit jacket, "feel free to watch."

Skye stayed in the booth for a couple of seconds, tongue in her cheek, considering how badly she wanted answers from Coulson and how badly she did not want to see Ward. She could feel Trip's eyes on her, waiting to see her decision. When she jumped out of the booth to follow Coulson, she yelled, "Shut up!" over her shoulder to Trip, who was no doubt laughing.

"Coulson, Coulson, hey, so technically, what level am I?" Skye panted, looking eagerly up at the Director. He gave a small smile.

"Skye, there are no more levels."

"But you just said-"

They had reached the interrogation room/Cage now.

"We'll talk later. Don't forget to turn off the sound systems and screen in the Command Center when you're done."

Skye was about to turn around and head back to her bunk but she found herself stopping in the Command Center and turning up the sound and pulling up a visual of the Cage.

"-All I need is five minutes." Ward's voice appeared over the speakers before the visual was drawn up. His voice was lower and rougher since the last time Skye had heard it. Other than in her dreams. Whether it was due to him not speaking in a long time, or the damage done to his larynx by May, Skye wasn't sure.

"Let's talk HYDRA." Coulson cut in.

"What do you want to know?" Ward asked smoothly. A little too smoothly, in Skye's opinion.

"He's lying, Coulson, it's all he ever does," she muttered, but she didn't leave the Command Cetner.

"What remaining pockets are out there?" Coulson demanded.

Ward didn't even hesitate, "Get me a map and I'll mark it for you. Ah- While you're out there, tell Skye I'd like to chat."

Skye bristled but Coulson simply said that she didn't want to see him.

"Damn straight," She said under her breath.

"Skye?"

The hacktivist whirled around to find Triplett standing at the edge of the semicircle made by the glass walls of the Command Center, "what are you doing here?" Skye didn't mean to sound so accusatory, but Trip had startled her while she was angry.

"I was just getting something to eat, but I saw you here. Do you want some breakfast? We never really ate." Trip explained, seemingly unfazed by the young woman's angry manner. Then again, he was probably used to all of Skye's recent mood swings.

"Uh, yeah, that'd be great." Skye replied, feeling a little guilty that she had been caught watching Coulson interrogate Ward.

"It's going to take time," Trip told her, reading the look on her face accurately, "I know you still don't trust him, but I think that right now, Ward's got nothing to lose if he tells the truth. He was never loyal to HYDRA, just to Garrett. Now that Garrett's gone, I think we're the last thing that he has left. Besides, he knows a lost cause when he sees one."

Skye appreciated the wisdom in his words but at the same time, she had to suppress a sneer are the irony of Trip's words. The Ward's replacement specialist handed a bowl of cereal to Skye and led the way back to the booth to eat. There, they encountered Coulson, coming down the spiral staircase with a familiar looking black box in his hand that sent waves of dread through Skye.

"You're giving Ward a bracelet?" That thing had practically driven her crazy when she had to wear it, "what did you program it to do?"

"Contact with objects only in the Cage and the Command Center, and only when he is granted access to files. I suspect you were watching, so you know that we need Ward to point us in the direction of HYDRA agents, and the easiest way for him to do that is through the technology we already have. Trip, can I count on you to observe as a guard?"

"Yessir." Trip began to wolf down his cereal as Skye took her time with hers.

"What about me? Am I allowed to observe not that the levels are gone?" She wiggled her eyebrows at Coulson as he contemplated.

"As long as you don't try to kill our prisoner the minute he walks out here."

"Deal." She swallowed her cereal against the lump in her throat.

"You sure about this?" Trip asked in a low voice, clearly worried, "It's pretty sudden…no time to prepare-"

"Prepare for what? I'll have to see him eventually, so I might as well get it done now. It's totally cool, just like seeing your nightmares come to life. Except they were real to start with."

"Mmm, something about that seems very depressing," Trip noted with a chuckle, "I better get to Coulson."

Skye nodded and collected their empty bowls, "I'll meet you in the Command Center, assuming that I don't wig out and hide in the lab." She laughed but when she got to the sink to wash their bows, her hands were shaking. "Dammit, Skye. Pull yourself together," She murmured to herself. The young woman slammed her hands to the edge of the sink and gripped it tightly until her knuckles turned white. She took a deep breath, bracing herself, then finished drying the bowls and hurried back to the Command Center before Coulson and Trip arrived with the prisoner.

"I pulled up the map with all the HYDRA locations that we already know of as well as common knowledge SHIELD facilities, so you can either enter in the coordinates or click and a place and zoom in." Skye explained, avoiding Ward's eyes. She looked at his shoulders instead which were clothed in a gray jumpsuit.

Ward cleared his throat. "Great. Where should I start?" Skye knew that he was asking her, he had his eyes on her, but she stared resolutely at the screen on the wall.

"How about at the SHIELD facilities?" Coulson jumped in.

"Sure. Anything that you want."

Skye bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from verbally lashing out at the prisoner. _Stop being so cooperative. _Ward leaned in to get a better look at the map on the computer table and Skye instinctively leaned back.

"It's, uh, all very self explanatory." She said brightly, moving to stand next to Coulson on the other side of the table.

While the prisoner was entering coordinates and pointing out locations, Skye found herself looking at him. More of examining him, actually. She noticed that he held himself up very rigidly, ask if he had broken his ribs and they had just mended. She also noticed that he filled out the jumpsuit- not in a bad way. He had neither gained nor lost weight, just maintained his muscular figure. If it weren't for the fading bruises and cuts on his face along with the gray pallor of his skin, he would have looked ready for combat.

Not only was his skin tinted gray from the lack of sun exposure, he seemed to have more lines and shadows on his face, accentuated by a few days' worth of stubble along his jaw. His eyes had an empty look about them, almost as if they were haunted.

Then Skye realized that she was staring openly at him and _he was staring right back at her._ Skye's heart skipped a beat, it was the same look she'd seen on his face with she had first met him- when she was the one in custody and he was the one on the "good side". It was an unreadable look, his signature specialist look, guarded and mysterious and so damn sexy.

And she really kind of hated him for it.

"Ahem, so you were saying, in Macau…" Coulson prompted gently, and just like that, the moment was gone. But not before Skye saw the walls break down around Ward and saw a fleeting look pass through his still handsome features. Skye herself looked down at her hands, trying to clear her mind. Guilt, frustration, anger, longing. An a feeling deep within her chest that made her want to run a thousand miles and try to hack the NSA (again).

When she looked up again, Ward was pointing to a city in Armenia, talking about a sleeper agent there to Coulson. Trip cleared his throat softly and Skye looked up to see his worried eyes.

"I'm fine, I'm just, uh, tired. The motel bed really sucked." She said with a forced laugh, "talk about creaky bedsprings, huh?" She rubbed her shoulders as if to prove a point. Trip raised an eyebrow, but looked away. Skye turned her attention back to Ward and Coulson, who were now debating over a facility in Saudi Arabia. This time, when Ward's eyes met hers, she stared right back into their depths until he looked away first.

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><p><strong>Thanks again for reading! Sorry it took me so long to update… I hope this was worth the wait! I'll try to update sooner in the future. Don't be afraid to review! I tried to put in some more lines that reflect Skye's personality- was I successful?<strong>


	4. Chapter 4: Ward

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or Agents of SHIELD**

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><p>He was back in the Cage again after revealing all the locations of HYDRA agents that he knew of. Being Garrett's right hand man, he'd been allowed full disclosure on almost everything- John's condition, the placement of the agents, but towards the end, John had begun to drift and became more unpredictable and impulsive- shooting Skye, killing the general at Cybertek, raving about the beginning of an end.<p>

And seeing Skye… she had looked relatively healthy, maybe a little tired and pale, but otherwise physically unharmed. When they had first made eye contact, she had looked away, her expression screaming confusion. It had hurt when she had flinched away from him at the table, but he figured that it served him right. Eventually, she would understand, he just needed to guide her to realizing that he wasn't entirely evil or a serial killer. Or a Nazi. Just loyal to those he cared about. The confusion in her face for that split second had lifted his hopes up again. It meant that she wasn't so fixed on believing that he was her worst enemy, even if she acted like it.

Grant Ward leaned his head back against the silicon carbide-coated vibranium alloy walls of the Cage and closed his eyes. She was more beautiful than he remembered. Although he was glad they were able to see each other, he had wanted very badly to have a moment alone with her. With Coulson and Triplett there, the Command Center had felt unnaturally crowded. She seemed to have filled up the room with her presence and with the other two agents there watching him, he felt suffocated. Maybe it was because he had gotten use to the isolation. Or maybe it was because…

No. Ward got up and began pacing. He was a specialist. The isolation was nothing new; it was his thing. He worked best alone, in and out, looking after no one but himself. The whole team thing "wasn't his speed" as he had said plenty of times before. His imprisonment conditions hadn't affected him as badly as it would affect a normal person who was used to the company and comfort of others.

Suddenly, there was a thump outside of the door, like the sound of someone who slid down the wall and sat down on the ground. The sound was too light for Coulson and Triplett, and Ward knew better than to think that it was Fitz. He was positive that May would not have sat herself down in that manner. If it were Simmons, she would have just come in- she wasn't hesitant about facing Ward and always had a bodyguard at her side anyway.

"Skye, I know you're there. Don't trust the door to keep me in, do you?" He called out, continuing to pace.

"Why'd you do it?" Her voice was muffled by the door, but he could hear the desperation between her cool tones, like she needed to confirm her worst fears about him. He knew what she was talking about, but he decided to play dumb, trying to buy some time before the inevitable.

"Reveal the coordinates? I'm a survivor, Skye; I know what I have to do to make it through alive. HYDRA"S nothing without a leader, and now that they've lost Pierce, Sitwell and Garrett, they'll be scrambling to reorganize and collect their bearings. HYDRA's at its weakest now. " He tried to ignore the way his stomach knotted up at the sound of her vulnerable voice.

It was quiet for a long time after Ward had spoken. He was beginning to wonder if Skye had left when she spoke again.

"I meant Garrett. Why did you become his…follower?"

Ward sighed and waked to the door, sitting down with his back against the cool surface, no doubt in the same position that she was in. Somehow, it gave him comfort to think that they were practically back to back, separated by the door.

"And don't tell me that it's because you're a survivor because that's complete bullshit." Skye added quickly, making Ward smile to himself. Her spice was back.

"It's a long story that I'd rather tell to your face than this door." Ward told her in a low voice, but Skye was quick to respond.

"No deal. Don't worry, I'll tell you if I need a bathroom break but this better be good. No more lies."

"No more lies." Ward promised, hoping that he could keep this first promise to her. He settled himself more comfortably against the door and angled his head down to where he imagined her head to be resting on the other side, "Well, you know that my brother beat up both me and my younger brother-"

"Good to know that wasn't a lie," Skye whispered but Ward's specialist training kicked in and he picked up every word.

"-yeah, that's all true." He acknowledged. Ward could almost see her eyes grow wide with shock that he had heard her, "Anyway, my parents eventually enrolled me in a military academy. I was beginning to think about sticking up for my younger brother and I and Maynard wanted me out of the way. One day, I broke out of the academy and set the family house on fire. Honestly, I knew that Maynard was in there, that's why I set the fire in the first place." Ward continued to recount his experiences in juvie and Garrett approaching him about SHIELD only to recruit him straight into HYDRA.

"He didn't give me a choice. I was really vulnerable when he approached me. Besides, I didn't know any other side of SHIELD other than the one that he told me."

"You don't owe him anything," Skye's voice became quiet and soft, just like the way it was when she had comforted him at Providence.

"I owed him everything!" Ward growled, a little tired of people underestimating his relationship with Garrett, "He saved me from hell, taught me how to be a man."

"Fat lot he taught you! He was a sleazebag and a filthy traitor." She snapped.

"SHIELD left him to die!" Ward said defensively, his voice rising, "SHIELD isn't everything you think it is. It isn't some noble organization-"

Skye cut in, her voice almost too quiet to hear, "trust the system."

Ward slammed his hand down at the floor, trying to keep it together, "Even you don't believe that."

She scoffed, her voice icy, "You think that I don't know that? You think that I don't believe that SHIELD has its faults? New flash, Ward, all these supranational organizations have their faults. There's no way they can save everyone! In order to operate for the better good, sacrifices have to be made!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to regain control of his anger, "All I've ever known since escaping my old life is John and he took good care of me."

"All he cared about was saving his own ass." Skye replied coldly. "You could have been the good man and told Coulson about Garrett. You could've told SHIELD even before you joined the team! They would have protected you."

"That's funny, because I learned from John that SHIELD doesn't protect its own, remember? Even with Coulson. Sure, they saved him, but at what cost?"

He heard Skye let out a frustrated yell, "God, Ward, It's all about Garrett isn't it? Have you ever learned to thing for yourself? Or are you really just a robot, following orders-"

"My feelings- I was prepared to do _anything_-" Ward began desperately, trying to keep the conversation from spiraling into a yelling match.

"And Fitzsimmons? The team? Tell me you cared nothing for us. NOTHING when you lied to our faces, every single freaking day, while we bandaged your wounds, asked about your feelings, _cared _for you?"

"It was a weakness." Ward said automatically, echoing the words that Garrett had put into his head. Ward thought back to Buddy, the most loyal companion anyone could ask for.

He heard the rustle of clothing that signaled that Skye was standing up. "You son of a bitch. Forget it, I'm done."

"-It was supposed to float-" He said hoarsely, "the cargo hold-." But he knew she was already gone.

A meal passed and Ward was given a change of clothes from Trip- just a standard white Tshirt and gray sweatpants. Ward did another round of push-ups: normal ones, clappers, one armed, legs propped up on, before his door suddenly burst open. He was mid push up when Skye flew through the door, her hair in a loose braid and clothed in sleepwear. Ward got up quickly and opened his mouth to speak and make up for losing his temper from when they were talking earlier when she slapped him. He honestly should not have been caught off guard by that but it took him a few moments to recollect himself. When Ward looked up again, Skye fisted her hand in the collar of his white shirt and jerked him down to her mouth. Ward reacted faster this time; he took her face in his calloused hands and kissed her back roughly, putting in two months' worth of angst and six months' worth of lust into the kiss. She responded equally as fiercely, one hand positioned at the base of his neck, the other running up and down his arm, squeezing his bicep while his tongue flicked in and out of her mouth.

Suddenly, she broke away, eyes blazing. She took him in, then spun on her heels, storming out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Groaning, Ward threw himself into a steel chair and covered his face with his hands, trying to ignore the taste of blood in his mouth from where Skye had bit his lip.

"Dammit, Skye," He growled, still trying to stop his head from spinning.

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><p><strong>Alrighty, another Ward chapter down. Like? Dislike? Improvements? Ideas? Those can all go down in that box down there! Thanks again for reading and endless love and appreciation to those who followedfavorite/reviewed! You guys are what keep me going~**


	5. Chapter 5: Skye

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or Agents of SHIELD**

**Special S/O to all those who favorited and followed my story!**

**Hugs and kisses to all those who took the time to review! I'm so glad you guys like it =)**

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><p>After Ward had been brought back to the Cage, Skye headed down to the lab to visit Simmons.<p>

"Oh, hello, Skye." Simmons greeted her cheerily, bustling around Fitz's pod. "I'm just doing some checkups on Fitz's brain activity and blood pressure."

Skye glanced down at the pod containing the engineer and quickly looked up again, "Ugh, I don't know how you can stand to look at him like that every day. It kind of gives me the creeps."

Simmons spared Skye a look before focusing down on the monitor again and said in a wry voice, "Now you know how we felt when you were in there. Anyway, Doctor Cavaco figures that we can move Fitz into a hospital bed today. His vitals are stable and in no danger of changing. He should be able to handle the air pressure from the plane now."

"That's great, Simmons! Where is said doctor anyway?"

Simmons shrugged, "He's resting somewhere. He's got a room in the back."

Skye plopped herself down on Fitz's desk chair and picked up the toy monkey that was always present. "Don't worry, I'll put it back," She said hastily at Simmons' pointed look, "So, I saw Ward today," Skye said with a forced casual tone.

"Oh really? And what happened?" Simmons asked in an equally fake offhand tone.

"It was so bizarre… Like, he told us _everything._ It's the most truthful I've even seen him. He was totally normal too, like it was any other mission and he was the one briefing us. I mean, does he feel any remorse for those people that he just gave up? Or maybe he's just used to flipping on people."

Simmons busied herself with the various test tubes on the island table, "I think you judge him a little too harshly." Catching Skye's incredulous look, Simmons rolled her eyes and continued in a matter-of-fact manner, "Oh, come on Skye. You weren't there to see it but Ward was just as upset as everyone else when you were shot! I think he blamed himself."

_"__You think I had a part in that? I would never hurt you. You know how I feel about you…"_

"Simmons, you said yourself that Ward was evil!" Skye blurted, trying to erase the image of Ward's eyes gazing searchingly into her own.

"Yes, but that was before I talked to him. He's just broken Skye. Sure, what he did isn't completely forgivable, but Garret warped him into his evil lapdog when Ward's mind was the most impressionable."

"Oh, so you're a psychologist now?" Skye could feel her face getting flushed with anger that she didn't bother containing. She couldn't believe how much the team was standing up for Ward.

"No, I'm just saying he deserves a second chance. I think he really does care about you, Skye. Besides, you should understand more about second chances than anyone else here." Simmons reasoned evenly.

Skye carefully put down Fitz's toy monkey, "I don't know if I'm ready for that. I put all my trust into him, and it's been a long time since I've been able to let myself go like that, to let someone else takes care of me."

The British woman strolled over to the Holotable and picked up a touch remote for the screen, "Of course, you're not ready, but if you don't go now, you'll never be ready."

And that's how Skye ended up outside of the Cage, trying to understand Grant Ward's side of the story. It wasn't long before the conversation became heated. She still couldn't understand how he could have betrayed the team so easily, fed her all those likes about loyalty, serving SHIELD, being a good agent.

Simmons found Skye back in her bunk, hours later, her things scattered around the floor and bed.

"You missed dinner. We saved you a plate."

"I'm not hungry. I just want to sleep." Skye mumbled numbly, curled up on the bed.

Simmons bent down to pick up the hacktivist's laptop and placed it on the small table in the bunk, "What happened here?" She asked gently.

"I needed to throw something. Are you here to just defend Ward again?"

"Actually, I came here to tell you that we moved Fitz into the hospital room that you used." Simmons' voice brightened and it was all Skye could do to not let her current mood bring down the biochemist.

"Great. I'll go see him tomorrow I think."Skye plastered on a smile for the benefit of Simmons.

"Isn't it?" Simmons all but squealed, "I better get back. The first hour is very crucial."

The door hadn't slid shut all the way before it was opened again.

"She was right, you know," a quiet voice said. The young woman jumped and turned to face May.

"As if that's not creepy. What was she right about?" Skye asked, not able to contain her curiosity.

May pursed her lips before continuing, "Ward really did care about you. Lorelei told me, and there's no way Ward was able to lie to her. Simmons was wrong about one part though. Ward didn't entirely blame himself when you were shot. He blamed Garrett. It was clear that he had no idea that it was going to happen. He was really upset."

Skye looked at the senior agent doubtfully, "He told you that? And how did you hear-?"

" I was conversing with Cavaco when you were down there. Ward as good as told me he blamed someone else. Skye, Ward is a really good agent, but when it comes to his personal life and character, he is the weakest. You and Ward are similar in the way that you both have had insecure childhoods, causing you to be less trusting of people. The difference between the two of you is that while you acted to change that and learn to trust, Ward hasn't even bothered."

Skye gaped at May; it was the most she had ever heard her talk. And everything that came out of her mouth was pretty damn good. But the senior agent wasn't done.

"You're scared confront Ward and believe his words because he taught you almost everything you know about SHEILD and about being a good agent. He was your SO and you're scared that you almost became him but that's not going to happen. Just remember, all great lies are built on a foundation of truths."

Long after May left, Skye's face was still scrunched up, trying to process everything that Melinda May had said and the fact that the Cavalry had observed so much about her and Ward. Skye spent a lot of time thinking after that. After holding back all the thoughts about Ward and trying to forget everything that had happened, she was having a hard time sorting through everything. It all came flooding back, as if a dam just broke in her head and questions, speculations, memories swirled together, giving her one heck of a headache. It was painful at first, but soon it just became confusing. Who was Ward really? And May was right… if he instilled all those qualities into her as her SO, then who was she?

"Skye?" There was a light knocking on her door, "Have you been to see Fitz?"

"Hey, AC. Not yet! I was just… just thinking. Give me two seconds and I'll come see him." Forgetting that she still had her pajamas on, Skye came out of her bunk. Coulson regarded her choice of clothing silently before leading the way down to the lab.

"Sooo what have you been up to?" Skye asked

"I've been tied up in phone calls all day and night. It hasn't been pleasant but we're slowing getting back on track."

Once they reached the makeshift hospital room in the storage area of the plane, Skye saw that Trip was already in there with Simmons.

Fitz's expression was peaceful, he would have looked like he was napping if it weren't for the breathing tube obscuring half is face and the numerous tubes and wires protruding out of his body. His curly hair was starting to get long, making him look years younger. Skye felt a pang in her chest. She missed hearing his Scottish accent, going on about technology that she only half understood. She missed hearing him crunch on his pretzels as he watched Ward with a mix of fascination and satisfaction, knowing that he was the one who designed all the weapons used by the field agents.

Ward. Skye missed the comfort that he provided with his solid stance, missed knowing that he was always there to protect the team at all costs. Missed smelling his scent that made her feel secure but at the same time, gave a swooping sensation in her stomach the second her nose picked up a faint whiff.

"I'll be back," Skye muttered, slipping behind Coulson to exit the room. There was only one way she could think of to determine if things could ever return to being the same again. On the way out, Skye nearly bumped into May and the older woman nodded once, as if she knew where Skye was going. Come to think of it, Skye was pretty sure May did know.

Upon reaching the second level of the plane, Skye threw open the door of the Cage and burst in. She took one look at Ward, who was balanced on his arms, legs propped up on a chair and she knew there was something that needed to be done first. The petite 5'4" woman flew at the well-built man as he got to his feet. She didn't even wait for him to say hello, or ask what she was doing there before she slapped him across the face. Hand stinging, Skye watched her former SO put a hand to his cheek, clearly stunned before she grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked his mouth down onto hers. As soon as their lips made contact, Skye's head as good as exploded. His smell overpowered her, making her weak at the knees, and the way he kissed her-

_Dear God . _She thought. Her dreams most definitely could not hold a candle up to the real thing. For a few seconds, she forgot that Grant Ward was Hydra, and she was transported back to the Hub where she first kissed him. _She wanted him so badly. There was nothing more in the world that she wanted than to just be with him._ As soon as his tongue met hers, she gripped his arm to keep herself upright. His muscles flexed under her fingers and she felt herself beginning to slip…and she wanted to. Skye didn't want to go back to reality, where the world as she knew it was in shambles, where Fitz was slowly deteriorating in his hospital bed all because of the very man that she was kissing. Where Ward was a monster.

But she had to.

Skye bit down on his lip a little harder than she intended then pushed him away. Giving his ruffled hair and slightly wrinkled shirt a once over, she willed herself to leave the room without actually running out.

God, she was such a wreck.

The next morning, Skye was back in the lab with Simmons, watching Trip have a go at Ward's old punching bag.

"How's the new drug? The Night-Night serum?" Skye asked as she slowly wrapped the tape around her hands. Trip had offered to pick up Skye's training. As must as it made sense for Skye to continue training, she dreaded it. Having the team's new specialist as her trainer ( she refused to use the term "SO") only reminded her what she was training for and why it was so important for her to do so. Thankfully, Trip couldn't be any more different than her previous SO, so the danger of things being familiar and transporting her back to the "old times" was very unlikely.

"Good question. I haven't checked his vitals lately." Simmons dropped the protective goggles she was cleaning.

"_His_ vitals? You're not talking about Ward, are you? Is he hooked up?" Skye asked slowly, trying not to panic.

Simmons waved her hands unconcernedly, "He's just got a few gadgets hooked up to him. They're new, Fitz had just finished them before-." Simmons broke off, her expression confused before starting again with faked brightness, "They're new. Let's check, shall we?"

Picking up a tablet, the British woman scrolled down on the screen while Skye dug her nails into her arms, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

"Wow, it looks like his heart rate and blood pressure skyrocketed sometime last night! How peculiar…I wonder what caused it?" Simmons then proceeded to being blathering about the ingredients in the serum and possibilities of what might have caused Ward to become so agitated but all Skye wanted to know was where those monitoring gadgets hand been on Ward. She hadn't felt anything on him last night…

"Maybe it's just chemistry, Simmons," Skye burst out, starting to get nervous. She was never the best had lying to people, especially those she was close to.

"Of course it's chemistry Skye-,"

"Simmons," Skye said weakly, unable to keep quiet anymore.

"It's probably the glyciderine crystals, those have been getting old…"

"Simmons it was me." Skye said loudly at the same time Trip walked into the lab.

The biochemist peered puzzedly at Skye, "Sorry?"

Trip glanced between the two young women, "Am I interrupting something?"

Skye looked away from Simmons "Ward and I…" she took a breath, unable to continue.

"I can come back," Trip offered a little awkwardly but he was ignored again.

Simmons covered her mouth, eyes wide as the realization dawned on her, "Oh my god,_ did you guys shag?" _ She whispered the last part.

"No!" The hacktivist's head snapped back to the other woman, "No we did not sh-. No. We…kissed. Intensely." She was getting flustered. Determines not to look at Trip, she watched Simmons beseechingly. She really needed advice.

"Well, yes, I do suppose that makes sense. The spike only last a couple minutes-." The biochemist reasoned, full scientist mode.

"Take them off him Jemma." Skye deadpanned, "and stop reading so much into those two minutes!"

"Hot damn, Skye. If Coulson found out-." Trip made himself comfortable against the wall of the lab.

Skye glared at him and said pointedly, "Which he won't. I thought you were leaving?"

"Nah, I think I'm good here."

"Oh, Skye, what did you do?" Simmons asked in a motherly tone.

"I don't know! After talking to him and seeing Fitz I just cracked. Well, I slapped him first, then… It seemed like a good idea at the time." She said defensively.

Simmons finished cleaning the goggles and returned them to their rightful shelf, "Coulson probably already knows. He's got that monitor in his office, remember?"

"Shit."

The biochemist dropped her voice conspiratorially, "How was it?"

Skye threw her head back, "Oh it was amazing!"

"But you hate him," Trip pointed out which earned him death glares from both women.

"Have you forgiven him?" Simmons asked eagerly. Skye shrugged. It was definitely an option now.

"There's still a lot of talking that needs-." Suddenly, she was interrupted by a tablet on the Holotable that began to beep erratically. Simmons rushed to it, picked it up and shrieked.

Skye and Trip instinctively scanned the area for potential dangers before rushing to Simmons. Trip got there just in time to catch the tablet as Simmons dropped it and raced to the back. Glancing down at the screen, Trip looked up at Skye, alarm written all over his face.

"He's waking up."

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><p><strong>Whew that was a long chapter! As always, thanks for reading… now, a question: Do you guys prefer longer chapters or shorter ones? Keep in mind, shorter chapters will (hopefully) result in quicker updates. Let me know =)<strong>


	6. Chapter 6: Ward

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

**Sorry it's been so long since I updated! As always, thanks to all those that review/favorite/followed!**

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><p>The next time Ward remembered waking up he was in a different cell. This one was about half the size of the Cage with just a small cot and a shelf opposite the cot. .Or maybe it was supposed to be a table. Ward couldn't tell. There was a bleak looking sink with a pump to power it. That was it.<p>

It was nice, thought. Didn't stink of state urine or rotting flesh as some of his previous cells did. Not nearly as nice as the Cage but that meant he would be able to leave the room for questioning.

A clatter drew Ward's attention to the heavy door opposite the cot he was lying on. Getting up, Ward saw that a tray had been slid through a small flap in the door. On the tray was a slice of bread, some stew and a cup of milk. A plastic spoon served as the only utensil.

Ward ate slowly, savoring the food. This was actual, edible stuff, not the slop he was given before the Cage. When he was done, he placed the tray back in front of the flap nad it was soon taken away.

It must have been hours before Coulson and Trip came into his room, but then again, Ward ahd long lost his sense of time. Coulson handed him a light blue colored pill and Ward swallowed it dry.

Upon coming to again, Ward found himself sitting upright cuffed by his legs and arms to a hard chair, his head surrounded by metal. His body was hooked up to a multitude of wires. This was at least familiar. His heart beat quickened as he began to panic, until he realized he had nothing to hide. Unlike the last time when he found himself in a similar lie detector, if not the same one. The last time, he was there to get Skye.

But isn't he here again for the same reason, different intent?

"You know the drill." Coulson's voice brought Ward's attention to the giant monitoring station directly in front of him. After a brief set of baseline questions, the Agent launched into questions about Hydra, confirming locations and people, allegiances and missions and countless questions about Garrett and his relationship with Ward.

"I was never a true believer. Neither of us was. All we wanted was to make Garrett better and the only way to do so was through Hydra and Cybertek." But as soon as Ward said it aloud, he knew it might not be true.

Coulson glanced up from the monitor screen, "You say that Garrett wasn't a true believer?"

"I don't… I don't think he was at first. But it is possible that towards the end.." Ward's voice cracked by not from emotion. All the talking was starting to wear down his healing larynx.

"That's enough for today." Coulson waved a hand behind him to signal for the others to take the prisoner back to his cell.

"Do I get a lanyard now?" Ward asked sarcastically but Coulson didn't even blink. "We are at Providence, aren't we?" He didn't get to see Coulson's reaction because May injected him with the knock out drug and Ward lost himself to unconsciousness.

"Jemma I think there's something wrong with your drug." Ward mumbled as he slowly came to, "I have a pounding headache." But as his vision cleared, he saw that the figure in the corner of his cell wasn't the English woman at all, but someone with longer and darker tresses.

"Skye," He smiled languidly, "Come to congratulate me on getting a lanyard?" Ward knew that he really shouldn't be joking with her, especially since they hadn't really spoken per se since their argument over Ward's story. But he hadn't forgotten the kiss. He had hoped that maybe that meant that they were on better terms. Obviously not, judging by the stoic look on Skye's face. She seemed to be getting better at hiding her feelings.

"Look, Skye," Ward sighed, dropping the playful demeanor in favor of something more serious, "I've thought about this a lot and it hasn't been easy for me either-,"

"I thought about this a lot too and I've returned to my former conclusion-you're just weak. Not evil. But you know what? It would've been better if you were evil because then at least, you would be brave enough to stand up for yourself and what you want."

Ward bristly a little, sitting up to face Skye head on "I know what I want-."

But she cut him off again, stepping closer, "You're just a weak little piece of shit under all that muscle and if you really want a shot at redemption then you're going to need one hell of a new defining moment." Skye snapped and Ward felt her words as a slap on his face. One slap for each word. Momentarily stunned speechless, he watched her as her chest heaved with anger.

"Now get up. There's someone who wants to see you. Hands behind your back." Skye ordered coldly. Numbly, Ward got up and followed her orders. She cuffed him and he grimaced at the tightness of the metal bands around his wrists, thinking of the times he had cuffed her before, first with Miles, then to the staircase. Throwing open the door after it buzzed, Skye gestured for him walk out. She followed behind and he heard her unholstering the ICER. He briefly wondered who had taken over her training. Trip was outside, armed with another ICER waiting to escort Ward down the hall to a door marked INTERROGATION.

Ward turned to Skye who had follower a few steps behind him and Trip, "It was supposed to float." He said simply, needing to let her know.

"You were supposed to be strong." She replied bitterly.

"Fitz," The name slipped out of Ward's mouth upon seeing the person seated at the table.

"Ward," the engineer nodded. Triplett fastened Ward to the table and left the two of them alone.

"When…?"

"A few days ago. I'm okay, physically. Mentally…Jemma's still running tests but she suspects my cognition will be slower, my IQ will be lower and I have enormous gaps in my memory. Also she thinks my rate of speaking is slower." Fitz informed him emotionlessly, as if reading off a weather forecast. Ward noticed that his speech did seem to occur at a slower rate, but not significantly so. All the same, he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He had caused this. It was harder to deal with now that Fitz was awake and sitting not three feet away from him, reporting the damage done to his own brain by Ward's actions.

"It was…You had a… I'm really sorry, but you had a better chance in the cargo pod than face to face with Garrett on the plane."

Fitz leaned forward, "Mate, I'm not here for an apology. I know you're sorry and that you're being punished. That's why you're helping us with all this information, right?"

"I, uh…"

"I just want answers. Why. Why did you betray us? Why Hydra? And do you actually really care about us?"

As Ward began to tentatively answer Fitz's questions, he felt twinges of guilt returning to him. Ward slowly began to understand what Skye had said to him about being weak and why she was so upset. And he became less defensive of his actions and more apologetic. Almost as if practicing his next conversation with Skye.

It always came back to her. Everything he did now was because of Skye.

Once Ward finished, there was a sharp rap on the one way window behind Fitz.

"That'll be Jemma. She doesn't want me to tire myself out. It's only been a week and a half since I woke up." Fitz got up to leave but Ward's mouth dropped open.

"Fitz…did you wake up here?"

"Close to the time we landed. You know, I always knew that you weren't evil Ward. I always knew it."

Ward leaned forward, panic setting in, "A week and a half… wait but-,"

Fitz looked down at Ward pityingly, "You've just been drugged, Ward. It's nothing to wor-."

"_I've been asleep for a week and a half?"_ It didn't make sense… was the lie detector test this morning or a week and a half ago? Had he really been sleeping for ten days straight?

The door banged open and Fitz slipped past Skye as she headed to free Ward from his restraints.

"Jemma left you a dose of medication for your throat in your room." She said emotionlessly.

"Skye, how long have I been asleep?" he asked, his voice a little uneven.

There was a pause as he was led back into the hallway, "A few days," She said softly, "But not ten days."

"Were… were you watching?"

"Just the last part."

Back in the cell, he paced for what felt like hours, although he was too scared to make any more estimations about time. Finally, he turned his head up to the ceiling and announced, "I need to speak with Skye. I know something about her that might be of interest."

This might be the only way to reopen the wells of communication between them.

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><p><strong>I know, it's been a few days since I last updated but I planned out the next few chapters and I'm basically done with the boring story set up. Time for some action and Skyeward loving! Thanks as always for reading! Reviews are like butterflies that brighten up my day and motivate me to update 3<strong>


	7. Chapter 7: Skye

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Since it took me a while to update and last chapter was kind of lame, I decided to spew out another chapter for you guys tonight!**

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><p>"Our first priority is securing a SHIELD base. Then we can do what we can to use the resources there to continue our restoration and rebuilding. After that, we track down Raina and Quinn. Hopefully, we will have gathered enough manpower to recapture the prisoners that were released from the Fridge." Coulson had the the team in the dim briefing room in the Playground. Skye suspected that the lighting was more for effect than actual utility reasons.<p>

"Again, I think we should give the Avengers a little ring. Maybe do brunch with them." Skye piped up but Coulson barely spared her a glance. However, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Billy straighten eagerly only to slump down when Coulson turned away without saying a word.

"If you don't mind, sir, how do we do that with just the…seven of us? Perhaps the U.S. Army-," Simmons began to ask tentatively but Coulson held up a hand.

"We need to take back the Hub from the U.S. Army but that comes later. I'm in touch with a few agents that are still there and they said that they are being detained for questioning and that going through the system is going to take a lot longer than originally planned. Sounds like everyone is being pretty tight lipped there. And last I counted, we had eight."

Simmons mumbled something about not including Fitz since he was still recovering but no one paid her any heed.

"It might be useful if we got some of the governments of countries to re-support us. If we get the right countries too, they can use their influence and connections with the United States to help us get our agents out of the hands of the United States." Trip pointed our thoughtfully.

"That is a very good point, Agent Triplett. Thank you." Coulson noted while Billy nodded vigorously and rubbed his hands together as if ready to get to work right that instant. Skye mentally shook her head at him. His excitement was a little more than what the situation warranted for.

Something buzzed and Simmons excused herself to go tend to Fitz who had currently been resting. The engineer was recovering at an incredible rate that made Skye wonder if he had someone been ejected with GH-325, but she knew better than to ask.

Coulson dismissed the rest of the team and Skye headed down to the training room with Trip to go over combat maneuvers and techniques. Halfway through their session, Skye couldn't help but bring up Ward's meeting with Fitz.

"What do you think he said? I mean, Fitz actually looked _happy_ when he walked out." Skye wondered aloud between pants and dodging Trip's attempts to flip her.

"Who knows? Fitz has every reason to hate him-oof-," Skye managed to hook him under the jaw, "The guy messed up Fitz's brain, so whatever he said, it must have been the right thing to say."

Heading to towel off for a water break, Skye sighed, "Maybe he was just happy that Ward was cooperating. He really didn't want Ward to be evil."

Trip shrugged and sipped water, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

"Skye."

Trainer and trainee looked up to see May framed in the doorway, arms crossed, an especially grim expression on her face.

"Care to join us, Agent May?" Trip asked cheerfully, patting the back of his neck with his towel.

"No. Skye, there's something that you might want to hear." With that, May turned and walked a couple steps forward before pausing to see if Skye was following her.

Quickly toweling off, Skye threw a confused look at Trip who only shrugged again, before hurrying to catch up with May who headed for Billy and Coulson's conjoined offices.

"What's up, AC? Finally caved and called the Avengers?"

Coulson turned and as soon as Skye saw the look on his face, the grin melted off hers. "Ward says he has some information about your past."

"Yeah, that's fine. I know my own life story, thanks." Skye replied airily.

"It's about your parents. And the Hunan province." Coulson said quietly. Skye felt her eyes widen and her blood run cold. They never actually found out what went down there, just that it was very, very bad. She began to back away, slowly shaking her head.

"No." She whispered, not wanting to find out something worse.

May took a step toward her, reaching out her hand as if to comfort Skye, "His information might not even be credible. It could just be a ploy, a trap-"

Skye stepped further away from the senior agents, hugging her arms around herself, "No I,- I have to find out. Hydra. The Clairvoyant…they knew _everything _Coulson. What's to say that they don't know the truth about me?"

Coulson pleaded with her, concern written all over his face, "You don't have to do this. Let us go and talk to him first."

"No." Skye's voice was sharp. "I'll go. I want to be the first one to hear it. You can listen in, or don't. Whatever. I don't care." She said recklessly.

"I'll go in with you," May offered but Skye shut her down.

"Just Ward and I. I want no one else in the room but Ward and me." Skye declared. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew that he wouldn't hurt her.

"Skye…" At the helpless tone of her commanding officer's voice, she felt herself begin to lose her nerve.

"I have to do this," She whispered and at that, she turned away from the senior agent's worried expressions and made her way deep into the Playground to confront Ward.

She brought him into the interrogation room. It was too weird for her to talk to him in the tiny cell room. Besides, there was nowhere to sit except on the bed and she wasn't ready to do that yet. He made no sardonic jokes, didn't even greet her verbally when she went into his cell.

Slamming a bottle of water down in front of him, she demanded, "Talk."

"No cuffs?" He held up his unchained hands.

"Talk."

Ward leaned back into his chair as Skye sat perched on the edge of hers. He cleared his throat and took a sip of water, "I don't even know where to start."

"Who told you?"

"Between Garrett and Raina, I mostly pieced it together myself. Along with what you told me."

Which wasn't very much. When they were at SciOps, Skye had mentioned that several agents had died protecting her when she was a baby in China.

"It was mostly Raina. She…ran some tests in Cuba. She was trying to develop the miracle drub that saved you and Coulson and she stumbled across some information."

Skye tried to still her shaky hands by opening her bottle of water but she was only making it worse. Ward reached over, as if unconsciously and easily twisted the cap open for her, gently setting the bottle and cap down before her. The mundane gesture sent a sharp pang through Skye's chest, making her want to flee from the room but she steeled herself and dropped her hands to her lap.

"She ran your blood work against a sample that she had from the massa-. From the occurrence in the Hunan province and-,"

Skye stopped him. "How did she have a sample from that?"

Ward looked dumbfounded, "I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. Anyway, Skye." He looked straight into her eyes with that soft look, the one he had when he saved her from Quinn's henchmen in Malta, like he was checking on her, making sure she was okay for whatever came next. It was his protective look.

"Ward. Just say it." She urged quietly, bracing herself.

"Your DNA matched the sample."

Skye leaned forward, "One of the agents? A villager?"

Ward's next words were so quiet that Skye almost missed them. And she kind of wished that she had.

"The monster's. The one that attacked the village. Skye, I'm so sorry-."

Skye began to laugh, albeit a little hysterically, "She's wrong. Those results can't be right."

"Skye-."

"Is this a trick? For me to talk to you?" Her voice was rising in pitch. Part of her knew that she needed to calm down, but she pushed that part away. Either Coulson or May tapped sharply against the window behind her but they were ignored as Skye reached across the table and grabbed Ward's shirtfront frantically.

"You need to tell her to run those tests again!" She shouted, knowing that she probably wasn't making any sense but Ward only looked at her, his eyes sad, unresisting as she began to shake him. Coulson ran into the room, but before AC could reach the table, Skye screamed at him to get out. She was getting the answers that she wanted and she was getting them now.

"I'll have to have Simmons come and sedate you." Coulson warned but Skye yelled at him to leave again and he surprisingly did.

Ward said her name again, soothingly, but he was ignored too.

"You're lying." She accused wildly, still gripping his shirt.

"You know that I'm not."

Skye released him and fell back into her seat, wiping away tears that she hadn't known that she had shed. "Why would you even tell me?" She asked, forcing her voice to be steady.

Ward leaned forward, his voice catching in his throat, "You needed to know. I would never tell you something like this if I didn't think you wouldn't want to know. I knew you could handle it. This is something you deserve to know. I have no tricks up my sleeve. I don't want to ever lie to you again.

"Skye, this doesn't change anything-," Ward tried to say but she wouldn't hear any of it.

"This changes _everything_" She hissed, "I'm like a friggin' time bomb, waiting to turn into a psycho killing machine."

Ward's hand covered hers. She flinched but kept her hand under his. "You haven't yet. The chances of you doing so are very unlikely."

"But why did she test…?"

"I think she wanted to know why you didn't react to the drub the way Coulson did. Skye, Raina believes that your nature could help you survive when the world is coming to an end. I think she believes that your potential powers are something that are very positive."

Skye stood abruptly, slipping her hand out from under his. The room was too stuffy, Ward was too close and her head was threatening to explode. "I need time." She choked out before a sob threatened to take over.

She made it out of the hallway without bumping in to May or Coulson. Skye ditched the cumbersome lanyard in a trash receptacle and was hidden in an unused room before the team had a chance to notice that she was gone. She heard them looking for her but all the years she spent in foster homes overfilling with children taught her how to hide well. Eventually, they stopped looking and Skye could finally let herself cry. She wished she had never known about this, but Ward was right. If the information was there, she would have wanted to know. She was entitled to it after searching for the truth her whole life. She wished she was anyone but herself. She wished a lot of things.

After the tears ran out, she sat staring blankly at the wall, thinking of nothing but thinking about everything. When she got tired of sitting, she lay down on the uncomfortable cement floor, shivering. She didn't trust herself with the team, so she stayed down there for hours upon hours, until she found herself craving company to distract herself from her thoughts. She went where she knew that everyone would be safe, her very last option.

"You look like hell."

"Noted. Same to you, Ward." This time, he was doing sit ups and bare chested. Normally, this would have delighted her, but now, she couldn't bring herself to care.

"Have you seen the team?"

"Nope."

"Want to talk?" She looked down at him and he offered her a half grin, "This shoulder's open."

"No. Yes. I … just talk to me." Skye watched as Ward got up and pulled on his shirt then sat on the bed and patted the spot next to him. She sat two spots away from him.

"I don't trust myself with the team." She confessed dully.

"But you trust yourself with me?" Ward remarked lightly.

Skye shrugged, "If what you say is true… You won't hurt me. And I could care less if I hurt you."

"So here we are."

Skye felt his eyes on her

"Raina once told her something interesting." He waited until Skye turned to face him before continuing in a low voice, "She said that you and me, we could be monsters together."

A sob escaped her lips. Skye pressed a hand to her mouth but the tears returned.

"I'm sorry," Ward moved closer, looking alarmed.

"No, it's not that." But another sob wracked her body and he gently pulled her against him and she let herself go. He was a traitor, a monster. But so was she. At last, they had something in common. They were monsters together, them against the rest of the world.

She felt his hold tighten around her as he wrapped another arm around her back and she cried into his shoulder.

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><p><strong>Oofta. Kind of a heavy chapter but I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading all the way down here! I'd love to see some reviews next time I check back =)<strong>


	8. Chapter 8:Ward

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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><p>He hadn't dared to sleep since his conversation with Fitz. Ward didn't want to wake up and find out he went into a month-long hibernation, not that he had anywhere to be or anything to do; he just didn't want to lose that many days to slumber again.<p>

Either way, he wouldn't have wanted to sleep. Skye was sprawled on his cot, fast asleep. After her tears had subsided, they sat in silence for a long time until he realized that she had somehow fallen asleep against him. So he laid her down on the cot and sat on the ground opposite her, head lolling against the wall, watching her sleep.

Ward couldn't believe that she was there. Sure, he was belong glad that she had sought him out for company and trusted him not to hurt her so much that she was able to fall asleep in his arms. But he also knew that same to him because she could care less about what he thought about her and because she didn't care if she did, in fact, go psycho killer machine on him. She was there because she didn't think that she could do any better than hang out with a traitor.

But she was here. And Ward took that as it was. Skye was finally with him, there were monsters together and to hell with Raina but she was right. It was all he had ever wanted. A small voice in the back of his head told him that he only told Skye about Raina's discoveries so they could be together like this, so she could somehow share a trait with him, but Ward tucked that voice deep into the recesses of his mind.

When Skye began to stir, Ward quickly got up and busied himself with the sink to hide that he had been watching her. HE hadn't thought of what would happen when she woke. All he knew was that he was a dead man as soon as the team found out she had spent the night in his cell. If they didn't already know by now.

"So which version of you am I going to get?" Ward asked good-humoredly pushing his luck and hoping that she wouldn't explode in anger or tears.

"Shit. Ohhh shit. I can't believe I fell asleep!" Skye muttered to herself but Ward couldn't help but cut in,

"You had a long day yesterday," He reminded her gently and she swung to look up at him, her eyes bright.

"Is it all true? Do you swear?" She whispered, as if a raised voice would wake up the truth and wreak havoc all over again.

Ward held up his right hand solemnly, "I swear on my life and everything holy in all nine realms." He watched her run her hands over her face.

"I need to get out of here." She blurted, " I'm in your cell, and oh God, Coulson…"

Ward grabbed her arm as she shot out of the bed, spinning her around to face him. He regretted his sudden movement the second he saw the stricken look on her face.

"Promise me you won't do anything to hurt yourself." He said his voice quiet but rough.

She blinked her doe-like eyes, the stricken look falling from her face, "Promise."

He gently released her arm, fingers lingering on her smooth skin for a second before he pulled away and turned his back so he wouldn't have to watch her walk away.

"Thank you,"

It was so soft he could've sworn that he had imagined it. The door buzzed and then the door slammed shut.

"Shit, Grant," He muttered to himself. His feelings for her had grown; the desire to make her understand became a need. And the entire time, she'd been a tease without realizing it. The kiss. Falling asleep against him. Watching her take the truth about her heritage, seeing her world collapse had shattered his heart. Christ, he was such a softie.

Oh man. He had it bad.

He was stuck in a nightmare. Ward was back at the well where he was forced to watch his younger brother struggling to stay afloat while his older brother threatened, "Not yet, Grant. Not yet."

Then Maynard changed to Skye, "Don't make the same mistake you made before," Was her warning. Then she caressed his cheek, "You would do anything for me, right? Anything to win me back," She crooned,

"Anything," He breathed, reaching out to touch her but his hand never seemed to make contact, forever traveling through the air.

"Take me somewhere worth of a queen." She purred. _Lorelei_. He blinked again, and it was Skye in front of him again.

"Anything you want." He promised, But suddenly another cry came echoing out of the well.

"Help me! Please!"

Skye grabbed his chin and jerked him to face her again, "Now, Ward. We need to go now."

"But you said-,"

"Grant! Help me!"

"But you said-." Ward protested, tearing his eyes away from her to look down at the little boy struggling for air.

"You have to choose!" She hissed, and he glanced down at the well again.

Maynard still stands behind Skye, his voice cruel, "Not yet."

Looking around wildly, Ward yells, "I need to wake up!" He willed his body to pull itself out of sleep.

_Wake up!_

"Choose! Save him or be with me!"

He's desperate now, "You said not to repeat my mistakes! You wanted me to be a better man!"

_Wake up NOW! _

She slapped him, unyielding, "Choose!" She screamed.

Ward protests, moving toward the well, "I have to make this right!" His heart clenches at the betrayed look on Skye's face. Maynard snatches the rope out of Ward's hands and his younger brother wails are cut short by water rushing into his lungs.

"You can't do both. Me or him. You promised me you'd do anything for me. You promised you would protect me!" The last part doesn't make sense but he feels it like a stab to his heart all the same.

_Do this for me. Wake up NOW Ward!_

"Ward!"

He jolts awake, tangled up in his blanket, sweating profusely. The real Skye stood before him, a dripping cup in her hand. He realized that his face is wet with sweat and water and his eyes sting with unshed tears..

"Jesus, Ward, what were you dreaming about?"

"Wha- what are you doing here?" He pants, raising his hand to his still stinging cheek.

"Oh, yeah, I tried slapping you awake." She filled up the cup and handed it to him.

"You… I heard you yelling at me to wake up." He said slowly, taking a gulp of water.

"So why didn't you?" She crossed her arms and stared him down.

He sat up, propping his bare back against the cool wall, "Don't think I didn't try." He said darkly.

"Talk about it?

Ward shook his head, "Did you talk to the team?"

Skye rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and they were perfectly understanding… a little too understanding. 'We still care about you,' 'You're still the same.' 'You will never hurt us. WE trust you.' Ugh. I'm sick of it!"

"Is that why you came here? So you could be even more disgusted by me?" Ward didn't mean to sound so churlish but he didn't really want to wake up to Skye after having a confusing nightmare about her.

She however, was nonchalant, "I didn't want to be alone."

Ward threw the blanket to the side and knocked over the cup in the progress, spilling water all over his mattress, "Dammit, Skye." He fumed, "What is going on with you?"

"Excuse me?" Her eyes flashed dangerously but Ward ignored the warning sign.

"First I disgust you and I'm a serial killer, then I'm suddenly your lover and best friend? No. I can't do this. I need to know where I stand with you. Unless this is another torture technique," He called out the last part to whoever could be listening if the latter was the case. He hoped it was Coulson listening.

"Bastard. I would _never_ use m- your feelings against you! I wouldn't stoop that low." She snarled, her nostrils flaring.

The slip was so miniscule but it was there. Ward could see it in her eyes. She was scared, but not exactly of him.

"You should leave." Any other time he would've leapt at the thought that she reciprocated his feelings but now he needed to get away from her and sort through his thoughts.

"I thought you wanted this," Skye said coldly, not moving an inch.

Ward sighed frustratedly, rubbing at his stubble, "I thought so too but…"

"Sounds like you're just as confused you think I am." Skye snipped. Why was she always so goddamn stubborn?

His anger flared, "I can't- you don't-. I can't do this now." He forced his voice to be slow and steady through his gritted teeth.

"_You _ can't do this now, " He added, fisting his hands at his side, fighting to keep his rage from boiling over.

"What's that supposed to mean? I want to figure this-_us-_out first! It's been two months and I want to do it NOW before I deal with being…this gets hashed out now." Skye snapped, jabbing her finger at the ground to emphasize her point.

" 't. Do. This. Now." His jaw twitched and Skye screamed in frustration.

"You really are a fucking robot aren't you? Christ, Ward, do you run from all your emotional problems?"

The next thing Ward knew, his right knuckles were bleeding and beginning to bruise from colliding with the cement wall next to him. Skye watched him silently for a few moments before she left and returned with a first aid kit and a pack of ice.

"I can't do this because I can't do us." Ward said in a strained voice as she grabbed his wrist not gently and began to tend to the broken skin, "I would do anything and everything for you and that scares the hell out of me."

"Isn't that like what you felt for Garrett?" Skye didn't' meet his eyes.

"No." Ward lifted the fingers on his uninjured hand to her chin. "I hated killing for Garrett. But I owed him. For you, I'd kill in a heartbeat if that was even what you faintly desired. With Garrett, I was on a mission, but you are…" He stopped, struggling for words. Skye had stopped caring for his hand and was now staring intently into Ward's eyes.

"I would do anything for you." He repeated unsteadily, "You have this power over me… I'd turn into worse of a monster for you."

Her eyes were wide and strangely bright again and he felt her soft palm touch his stubbly cheek.

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><p><strong>Okay before you get mad, I'll have the next chapter up sometime tomorrow but I just needed to switch to Skye's POV. Quite a bit of angst in this chapter so some loving will be in the next one! Thanks as always for reading and I'd love to read a couple of new reviews if you've got them for me =) I haven't had one in a while…<strong>


	9. Chapter 9: Skye

**Disclaimer: I own nothing **

**Very special s/o to LisaMichelle25 for rising up to my plea for more reviews and giving me such a heartwarming one too! **

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><p>Skye cupped his cheek, her anger fading. She didn't know what it was but she knew that there was no way he was lying. Maybe it was from the lack of practice of maybe his defenses were finally being stripped away but judging from his expression and tone of voice, there was nothing but the truth coming out of his mouth now.<p>

She leaned in and ghosted her lips, hearing his breath hitch, she pulled away and whispered, "Let's just pretend that there is no Hydra or SHIELD-."

"No." Ward gently pulled further away, leaving a foot of space between them, "You said so yourself, we need to hash this out now."

Skye sighed and dropped her hands into her lap, still kneeling in front of him. She had completely forgotten about bandaging his knuckles. "That was before your knee-weakening proclamation of your feelings for me." She whined, but his eyes were firm, "Fine," she huffed, settling more comfortably on her legs. She bit her lip, considering her words before beginning, "I'm not sure I can ever forgive you for betraying us. But I think I might be starting to understand what you did." She admitted with a twinge of guilt; she hated going back on her word.

"I told you, you would understand eventually," Ward said somewhat smugly.

Skye rolled her eyes before getting serious again, "It doesn't mean I fully understand. I just wish we could go back to the time where you were actually good. Well, even if you weren't but…I want you to have a chance at redemption, to prove that there was always a good side in you, it was just hiding all this time. But at the same time, I don't know if I can ever trust you again to be able to give you that chance. I want to… but I shouldn't- it would be really stupid of me and I don't think I can take another betrayal." Skye paused, then added sheepishly, "I also really don't like going back on my word. You know, the part where I hate you- I still kinda do- and will never give you what you want."

They were silent for a short while, then Ward started to talk.

"My turn," He tentatively reached for her handwhich she allowed him to take. "You know that I have feelings for you and I never wanted to hurt you intentionally or unintentionally but I needed to save Garrett-," Skye made a small noise of dissent but didn't say anything, "-I've always…cared… about the team. I've never been good at interpersonal feelings. I was trained to work alone, never depending on anyone. I was taught to read people and to play them. If this…us…is going somewhere, I'm going to need help. Tell me what I can do to make this up to you and I'll do it a hundred times over."

Skye could feel tears collecting in the corners of her eyes as Grant Ward opened up to her, finally asking for help.

He squeezed her fingers, sending tingles up her spine, "I know you can't trust me, but I'll spend as long as it takes to win back that trust."

Finally, Skye took her face in her hands and touched her lips to his. This kiss was slow and gently, the way any first kiss should be. In a way, this was their first kiss; they were finally their real selves, not holding anything back from each other.

His fingers skimmed her back and she moved to sit next to him on the bed, never breaking contact. This kiss lacked the hunger and need that their other kisses had been made up of. This kiss was steady and filled with emotion; there was not rush as they explored each other, touches tender and lips soft. The only reason they broke apart was because the cell door was buzzed open, revealing a mild looking Trip on the other side.

"There's a mission," He announced smoothly, as though he saw agents kissing prisoners all the time, "Coulson wants us up in the briefing room now."

Skye took her hands off Ward but didn't move away from him, "It's like, four in the morning." She said crossly.

Trip shrugged, "You're up." He gestured for Ward to stand up so he could be cuffed, "I guess it's urgent. I have orders to take Ward up with us."

"Why?" Skye asked suspiciously, even though she knew Trip probably didn't know.

"I guess we'll find out." The specialist said, cuffing Ward securely and turning him back around.

"I'll see you up there," Ward said casually, as if he were still and agent of SHIELD and they were back on the bus. _Just like the old times._

"See ya," Skye hopped off the bed and wiggled her fingers over her shoulder at the two men as she left.

Everyone, including Fitz and the good doctor Cavaco were upstairs already, waiting for Skye, Trip and Ward to arrive.

"You do know that part of Ward's punishment is _solitary_ confinement?" Coulson asked her shrewdly.

"My goodness, frolicking with the prisoner?" Billy shook his head disapprovingly until he caught May's eye and stopped.

"We need to resolve some…issue." Skye said lamely, moving to stand on the other side of the table screen.

"We'll talk later." Coulson's tone was final and Skye shot Fitzsimmons and "uh-oh" look when her commanding officer looked away.

"Good, you're all here. Let's begin." Coulson said promptly as Trip and Ward entered. "I know it's early, but I found us a target. It's a nicely sized SHIELD facility in Italy. Not too big, not too small. Good resources and location."

"Good job, AC. So what's the strategy? Guns blazing? WWII style? I had a lot of fun with bomb threat last time we ran that one…" Skye rambled excitedly. She was all too eager to get out of this poorly lit base.

"Undercover escort."

"_All _of us, sir?" Simmons asked anxiously, her voice drowning out Fitz's mention of monkeys.

Coulson shook his head, "No. It'll just ben Agent Triplett escorting the prisoner, Ward. I need the rest of you here, running comms and surveillance."

"I don't get it. What's the undercover part of it?" Skye asked, placing her elbows on edge of the screen and propping her chin up with her hands.

"Since we don't know if the facility is dominated by Hydra or SHIELD, we need to go in and do some scouting. In case the facility is Hydra, Ward will need to maintain his Hydra persona and Agent Triplett will go undercover as a Hydra sleeper agent. If the facility turns out to still be under SHIELD control, there will be no need for undercover." Coulson explained.

"Permission to speak?" Everyone turned to Ward and Coulson nodded curtly.

"With all due respect, sir, I think there is a flaw in the plan." Ward said humbly, but Billy made a noise of outrage which was quickly silenced by Coulson holding up a finger to him. He nodded for Ward to continue, "If they agents there are Hydra, they'll know that Agent Triplett is not Hydra. They know who all their double agents are. Our best bet is to pretend that whoever is escorting me has recently converted."

The briefing room was silent as everyone pondered the point made by the prisoner.

"It would have to be me," Skye said suddenly as the realization dawned on her.

"No." Coulson and May said at once, in unison.

"Skye, it wouldn't make sense if it were a level 1 operative escorting a dangerous traitor- sorry, Ward- into a SHIELD facility without any back up." Simmons said worriedly.

"I'll say I got separated from you guys. Accidentally broke protocol in my excitement to arrest him." Skye said beseechingly.

"You're not prepared." May said not unkindly.

Skye leaned in, looking at Coulson, determined to win, "It's just a scouting trip, isn't it? I've been in combat before, AC, and my training is going really well with Trip. Once I get in there, I can hack their systems and do what needs to be done to get you guys in there with me."

"Absolutely not." Skye turned to glare at Billy who had just spoken, "How dowe know that you won't just take the chance and run off with him? Fraternization with prisoners is banned for many reasons…" Billy continued his own train of thought and Skye turned back to Coulson again.

"You know I won't do that, Coulson. I wouldn't just leave you guys hanging like that. I can do this. The story sells itself. Rising Tide. Lovers. Lost girl, looking for somewhere to belong, shifting loyalties." She said in a low voice, "Plus you know I'm the last person that he'd hurt." The last part was so quiet that even May, who was standing beside Coulson, couldn't have heard it.

When Fitz finally shut Billy up, Coulson announced, "Skye and Ward will go in. That is my final decision." His voice was neutral but through the dim lighting, Skye could see that his expression was slightly pained. There was an outburst from the other occupants of the room but Coulson put them down quickly.

"Fitzsimmons, get to work finding out everything you can about that facility. Agent May, I want you in there with them, start crafting an exit strategy. Billy, I need you to call those numbers on that list I gave you, tell them what is going on. Agent Triplett, after you escort Ward back to his cell, meet me in my office. Dismissed. Skye, a word, please."

They had a long and much needed talk. Coulson asked her about Ward, her relationship with him and his own concerns about the prisoner. Skye reassured him the best she could. They avoided the subject of her recently discovered background. As they talked, she realized how much of a father figure Coulson had become to her. Despite the news about her true family, Skye found that she was finally beginning to be happy again. The team was still her family, she had finally found the truth about her lineage and things were on the mend with Ward. They were about to go back out there and take back control of the world. She was officially a part of something important- to her and to the world

As happy as she was, Skye couldn't shake the feeling that something ominous was looming just in front of them, something dark and utterly inevitable that was about to turn her world upside down again.

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><p><strong>THE END. <strong>**Hahahaha jokes, I would never do that. So thanks for reading, as usual and much love to my reviews/followers/favorite-ers! Don't forget to drop me a little review, even if it's just a three worded one! I love hearing from you guys and it absolutely helps make my day! **


	10. Chapter 10: Ward

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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><p>Between Coulson, Simmons and Skye, Ward hardly ever spent time alone anymore. With Coulson, he was constantly planning and answering questions that could help them with he mission. Whatever Skye had said to vouch for him, it seemed to have worked. Coulson actually seemed to trust Ward now. He didn't, however, seem to like any more than when Ward had first betrayed him, but Ward could live with Coulson's trust.<p>

Simmons was perpetually running tests on him, measuring his physical endurance and shape, making sure he was ready to go back into the field and protect Skye if need be. When he requested to start training again with equipment, there had been a big debate but he was eventually allowed two hours a day in the training room, supervised by either Triplett or May. It then became clearer than ever that the team was really beginning to trust him. He no longer had to be drugged or blindfolded to be escorted places, that's how he found out that they weren't, in fact, at Providence but a similar base. They trusted him so much that they gave him his first secret to keep: Billy must never know that Ward was the one who killed his brother. The team bestowed their tentative trust in him, and Ward was determined not to let them down.

Skye came down to his cell almost every night now. Sometimes she would stay for only a little while, other times she slept next to him the whole night. Sometimes they would talk, other times they would lie next to each other on the small cot, sides brushing. They rarely initiated contact, a silent agreement made between the two of them. When they did touch, it was light. They hadn't kissed since the night the mission was assigned.

"Does the team know how often you come down here?" Ward asked. They were sitting next to each other, an inch apart. He had one knee drawn up, the other leg hanging off the long edge of the mattress. Skye's legs were sprawled out in front of her, her boots dangling just barely on her feet, threatening to fall off at any second.

"They know I come down here, but I don't think they know how often."

"I don't deserve you," He said abruptly after a long pause.

"I know," She said simply, and his heart sank until she took his hand delicately in hers, "But I think you will someday." She rested her head on his shoulder and whispered, "Just don't keep me waiting too long."

Slowly, carefully, he lowered his head down to rest on hers. "I won't,"

She snuggled into his side, "Are you scared? For the mission?"

He squeezed her hand lightly before wrapping that arm around her securely, "Yeah," He admitted.

She lifted her head slightly, and he moved his own to look down at her, "Really? Special Agent Grant Ward, scared for a scouting trip?" she teased before bringing her head back down onto his shoulder, "I'm not scared. You'll be there, waiting to show off your amazing skills, trying to prove to me that you deserve me."

"Skye…when we get in there, you're going to have to be head-over-heels…And I'm going to have to be… the Grant Ward that _they _know. Besides, I'm no Special Agent anymore." He finished bitterly but God, did he love the way it sounded coming out of her mouth.

"Shh, I know." She whispered and he knew that she did. They sat in silence for a long time. Ward was looking forward to spending time with Skye outside of his cell, even if it was under heavy surveillance and while ona mission. It would be just like the old times. But the part he was dreading was if the facility was Hydra, he would have to revert back to evil Grant Ward and he was scared that he would lose Skye in the process.

He really shouldn't have her to begin with. Coulson as good as told him that he should let her go to give her a better chance but Ward was just too selfish for that, as much as he knew it was true.

"Skye, there's something-."

"No. Shhh, I'm sleeping now." She mumbled, her words barely coherent. Ward sighed and gently helped her lay down on her back before stripping off his shirt and taking his place next to her, putting as much distance between them as possible. He knew she was avoiding talking about things again but he was really too tired to initiate another fight. It would have to wait for another day.

She was long gone by the time he woke up.

"Rise and shine, Ward. Breakfast's upstairs- We're going over the plan with the team in twenty." Triplett announced as soon as the door was buzzed open.

Ward threw on his shirt before crossing to the shelf to retrieve his toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste that he had been given. It sat in the corner of the shelf, next to a plastic cup, disposable comb and a hand towel. Quickly brushing his teeth, Ward rinsed and turned so that Triplett could cuff him.

"When do we leave?" Ward asked.

"Day after tomorrow," Triplett answered, securing the metal bands around the prisoner's wrists. Another plus of the mission was that Ward now had a good sense of time.

"Are we ready?" He asked the agent, only half rhetorically. Triplett didn't answer, just led Ward out of the cell and into the hallway.

He could hear Fitzsimmons already arguing as he and Triplett approached the briefing room.

"It can work, Simmons! The ventilation shafts can muffle the sounds. If anything, it'll just sound like a small animal or some debris got caught in there."

"I simply refuse to believe that the D.W.A.R.F.s are strong enough to resist the air coming through the shafts! They could easily get swept away and discovered and God knows what you'll do if you lose Sleepy again!" Simmons argued back, moving around the screen table agitatedly swiping around on it. Skye was immersed in her laptop fingers flying across the keyboard while May looked on, half hidden in the shadows. The senior agent cast Ward an ambiguous look, but didn't say or do anything. He had a strong inkling that she would give anything to have another go at him. Ward turned to watch Fitz who was in the corner, messing around on one of his numerous tablets. Coulson and Billy were not yet there.

"There's food in the back." Triplett said, uncuffing Ward.

"Thanks, man." Helping himself to a granola bar, Ward turned back to watch Fitzsimmons' argument.

"There are other ways of surveillance, Fitz," said Simmons exasperatedly, still moving around the table.

Fitz sighed and ran his fingers through his curly hair, walking unsteadily over to the table, "Simmons-,"

"Hold on, did you just stumble?" The biochemist narrowed her eyes at the engineer.

"It's nothing," Fitz said dismissively, as he began to swipe around on the table screen as well.

Simmons however, rounded on him, "Fitz! I _told_ Doctor Cavaco that you needed to rest more-,"

Fitz moved away from her to a different part of the table. Fitzsimmons were always moving around and multitasking when they argued, "I didn't stumble, Jemma!" He said loudly, not meeting her eyes.

"Did too! You saw him stumble, didn't you Skye?" Simmons turned demandingly to the hacktivist.

"I'm busy, Simmons," Skye murmured, not taking her eyes off the screen of her beloved laptop.

"Agent Triplett!" Simmons snapped, glaring at Skye.

Garrett's unveil protégé winced before dutifully giving his verdict, "You should sit, Fitz,"

Ward had often wondered why Garrett had never recruited Triplett but never questioned it out loud.

Fitz threw Triplett a dirty look, "Easy for you to say, you haven't been bed-ridden for months-."

"Fitz, man, just do it. You need to be 100% when the mission begins," Ward said guiltily. Fitz looked up at Ward, his expression hard, but complied, pulling up a stool to the table.

Triplett and Simmons looked incredulously at Ward.

"How did you do it?" Simmons asked in hushed tones, but Ward had no idea himself.

"I got it." Skye announced, leaning back so May could look at the screen of the laptop, "Where's Coulson?"

"I'm here, sorry, got tied up with a contact in Vienna. You can begin, Agent May." Coulson entered, followed closely by Billy.

May moved forward out of the shadows as Skye began pulling up pictures of the facility onto the monitors on the wall.

"The location is classified, but the satellite images show that on the exterior, the facility has medium security- cameras, sensors, the like. A few guards patrolling the perimeter at all times and two stationed at the front gate."

"The gate is made of cast- iron, nothing really special to it. I suspect there may be motion and touch sensors at the top and bottom of the gate, as it is with most SHIELD and government buildings." Simmons added in.

"There is no indication of anything potentially harmful under or around the gate," Fitz chipped in, "Sensors are in place in the ground and there are no signs of anything dangerous in the grass- other than sprinkles. Just your normal garden ones."

Coulson nodded, "Good. Skye?"

"The interior security appears to be much more complex. I have records indicating that many of their alarms systems link directly to other SHIELD facilities and a few governmental agencies. Cameras and sensors are triple the amount that they have outside and it looks like purchase records say they have the standard package- keypad locks, facial recognition, but inside and outside the building. Just last month they bought a bunch of fingerprint and retinal scanners. You got to wonder how long it takes to get from one room to the next because of all the security in there. Anyway, the whole place is built defensively but it's no fort. I zoomed in on the satellite pictures and the windows are mostly reflective but you can see the shadows of guards, just barely. There's enough G.I. Joes in there to stock a whole toy store. But I'll know more once I can get in the vicinity and hack their actual systems."

"Really, most of our helpful information is going to come from actual scouting, but Agent May has a tentative plan in place," Simmons explained, picking up yet another tablet.

"Skye and Ward will enter the front gates…" May started but Ward was only half listening. He was watching Skye, who had just glanced down at her laptop and widened her eyes at whatever was on the screen. Then in an instant, her fingers were back on the keyboard, furiously typing away, her expression panicked. He wanted to go to her and find out what was wrong- it was clearly personal judging from the deeply disturbed look on her face- but he knew that would be inappropriate at this time. She looked directly at him for a few minutes, then seemed to calm down a little, shaking her head as if to say _not now_.

Ward reluctantly turned his attention back to May. The least he could do now was figure out what exactly he was supposed to do to render his first shot at redemption a success.

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><p><strong>Kind of a filler chapter but I hope you liked it anyway! As always, thanks to everyone who continues to support this story! Review please =)<strong>


	11. Chapter 11: Skye

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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><p><em>I have someone that would like to meet you. Call it something of a family reunion if you will. Hong Kong, the old Centipede facility where Scorch was. 2<em>_nd__ floor. Thursday 11 PM. Come alone._

_-Raina_

Skye watched as Coulson, Ward and May read the messages. Everyone else had left already to carry out their tasks assigned to them. Ward's expression closed off as he finished reading but May's expression remained the same- cool and collected as ever. Coulson, however, looked a little panicked.

"You can't go." He said immediately after finishing. Ward nodded in agreement but May remained silent.

"Don't you see? I have to. I can finally get answers from Raina and my parents-." Skye protested, slamming her laptop shut.

Ward folded his arms, "No. It's too dangerous. It could be a trap- Raina's obsessed with evolution and I'll get she'd jump at the chance to cut you open and examine you."

"Not to mention that whoever your parents are, they massacred an entire village and killed the agent that brought you to the orphanage. No offense, Skye. If you don't give them exactly what they want, they'll destroy you, Skye." Coulson reasoned, "How did you get this message anyway?"

"It just appeared on my screen… They must've hacked my laptop directly…but that's impossible." Skye opened her laptop again and began to pull up tabs, typing quickly.

"How impossible?" Coulson asked sharply. Skye looked up to see him exchange a look with May.

"Uhm, well, the only person that would be able to crack my system is Miles because he knows me so well-," she saw Ward stiffen visibly out of the corner of her eye, "-but even this would be a stretch for him. I mean, whoever did it would have to have a skill set double that of Miles and he's insanely good. Like, the best in the world."

"Would it be easier for them to hack in if they are close?"

"Mmm mm. It's not a proximity thing. I tried to trace the hack but they were in and out in just seconds. They weren't in there long enough to do anything but leave the message."

"You can't go to the meet. It's too dangers." Coulson repeated, then turned to May, "I want security on alert. Do a scan of the exterior and interior of the base. Manually go through all security feeds. Notify Billy and try for Fury." May turned on her heel and exited. Coulson turned back to Skye and Ward, "Skye, I don't want you going on the mission anymore. I will not compromise your safety like that."

Skye stood quickly, opening her mouth to argue but her commanding officer had already diverted his attention to Ward.

"And you. Are you in contact with Raina? Did you tell her that Skye knows about her background? Were you instructed to do so?"

"_Coulson_" Skye said, shocked at the coldness of Coulson's tone, but she was ignored.

Ward uncrossed his arms, "Absolutely not, sir. I would never compromise her safety either." Coulson and Ward held a staring match that made Skye feel as though she were a teenager watching her father and boyfriend argue over her.

"You need me on this mission." Skye said loudly, hoping to break their attention and turn it back to her, "it's too late to change the plan now."

Coulson didn't look away, "I think it's too much of a coincidence. You're about to go on a mission with Garrett's right hand man as your only backup and suddenly Raina, who healed Garrett once before, wants you to meet up with her? I don't buy it."

"Sir, I _was_ loyal to Garrett, not Hydra. Raina's a free spirit- she was never loyal to Hydra or Centipede, or even Garrett. She has her own agenda and only God knows what the hell it is. There is no connection, no contact. She is manipulative and seeks only what's in her best interests. The moment she left Garrett and I, connections were cut."

"If they can hack my personal laptop, then it won't take her long to find me here. I'm no safer here than on the mission. Besides, I don't think Raina would use force to drag me here. She's all about manipulation, like Ward said, seducing and luring people where she wants them."

"Isn't that what she's doing to you now?" Ward pointed out and Skye swiveled to glare at him. They would deal with that comment later.

"C'mon, AC, I'll have Robot here with me, and he already promised to protect me. Even if he's not very trustable, you can't deny that he's got killer combat moves."

She watched as Coulson contemplated. Cutting her eyes to Ward, she saw that her former SO had his brow furrowed in concern, also watching Coulson.

"I'll think about it. I've nearly lost you once before and I don't plan on doing so again." Coulson said, his voice firm by expression gentle.

"Think fast," Skye said under her breath.

"You're still not going to the meet." Coulson added and Skye hummed an ambiguous response as AC left.

"Come on, prisoner, let's get you down to the lab for some more tests," Skye tucked her laptop under her arm.

"You know I hate it when you call me that," Ward said in a pained voice. Skye stood on her tiptoes and put her face right up to his, their breaths mingling.

"But it's pretty sexy, you have to admit," She breathed. He seemed to lean forward unconsciously, his eyes on her lips but she pulled away and returned to the flats of her feet.

"Aren't you going to cuff me?" He held out his wrists, masking the innuendo with his poker face.

Skye swatted his hands down, "it's more of a formality than anything. Plus, if you don't want me calling you that then you should have considered it before you went over to the dark side." She saw his jaw twitch slightly and made up for her biting words by slipping her hand into his and leading him out of the briefing room.

Upon entering the lab, Ward stopped and Skye tugged him forward, but to no avail.

"Simmons is waiting in the back," She said, but when he still didn't move, she turned to him questioningly. He reached out and took the laptop from under her arm and set it on a nearby counter. Then he took her unoccupied hand in his own big calloused one.

She gazed up at his chocolate brown eyes, sinking into them, becoming completely mesmerized.

"Don't go to that meet up with Raina." He begged eyebrows furrowed.

She sighed, "Ward…"

"No. _It's too dangerous_-,"

"You said that already," She huffed, trying to look away but he brought her face back to his before grasping both hands in his again.

"Why did you tell me?"

He looked momentarily surprised, "What?"

She repeated, slower, "Why did you tell me what she discovered?"

"Because you deserved to kn-."

"Exactly." She slipped her hands out of his and picked up her laptop, "Don't worry, I'll take back up with me," she called over her shoulder. Skye caught sight of his reflection in the glass doors before the slid open for her. He was standing exactly where she left him, arms dangling at his sides, looking utterly helpless.

"Ahhh, it's nice to be back," Skye sighed contently as she threw back the door of her bunk on the Bus, "I mean, the room in the Playground is nice, but this is cozy, more homey." She continued, throwing her bag down on the bed.

"Where do you think Ward will stay? Triplett took over his bunk…" Fitz wondered aloud as he carried his own belongings into his respective bunk next to Skye's.

She leaned on his doorway, "Fitz. I don't think Ward will be staying in a bunk anytime soon."

Fitz looked up stubbornly, "He can't stay in the Cage forever."

"Oh, I think AC plans to keep it that way," Skye said airily as said Director and Trip escorted the prisoner into the Cage on the other end of the plane. Ward caught her eye just as he was about to enter the cell and winked roguishly. She had to suppress a shiver. How the hell does one make a wink so sexy?

"Aw, come one, I can't even wink," Fitz lamented from behind her and Skye returned to her bunk.

"Don't worry, I think Simmons is enraptured enough with you as it is," Skye could already imagine the Scotsman's ears growing pink and she couldn't resist adding, "All you left to do is make Simmons stop running tests on Trip and eyeing his smooth body."

"Wait, what? Skye? Skye!" Fitz pounded on her door but she already locked and slipped her headphones on, waiting for May to announce liftoff.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading and all your continued support! Review si placet tibi<strong>


	12. Chapter 12: Ward

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**Sorry for not updating in a while! Here you go~**

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><p>"Skye, Agent of SHIELD. I need somewhere to store this guy," Skye announced upon approaching the front gate of the Italian facility. Ward noticed that Skye had dressed for the occasion- the jacket that made her look uncannily like Melinda May, her look complete with a pair of dark aviators, leggings and combat boots.<p>

"This Grant Ward? I thought he was already arrested." The guard said suspiciously, pointing his weapon loosely at Ward.

Skye rolled her eyes, "He escaped. Coulson wanted to keep it hush-hush. Not really good news for the rest of the world, is it? A dangerous felon broke out under our watch?"

"So where's the rest of your team?"

"I got separated from them chasing him. Barely got the restraints on him. It's something of a defining moment for me." Skye explained smoothly but Ward heard the hidden point meant for him. He kept his uninterested expression the same as he turned to bore his eyes straight into the guard's own suspicious ones. He hoped the facility was still SHIELD, Skye was beginning to ramble beside him and he wasn't sure if she would be able to make it through if they turned out to be in Hydra territory.

"He came quietly?" The second guard asked from his post on the other end of the gate. He sounded just as skeptical as his partner.

"I had to ICE him," Skye explained impatiently, "Now will you let us in or do I have to stand here all day holding on to him?"

Ward saw the guards exchange looks out of his peripheral as he kept his head straight, staring at a spot in the distant horizon.

"I showed you my badge but I'm not lifting up my shirt for either of you guys so either let me crash here until my team gets here or I'll go find them and you can deal with Coulson's ragey…wrath. He won't be happy to find how incapable you are!" Skye snapped, yanking Ward's forearm forward so he ended up right in front of the guard threateningly.

"And there's no guarantee that I can keep him restrained if I keep standing here. Do you really want to be known as the guys who were stupid and let a high profile prisoner get away?" Ward heard her hiss from behind him. He turned his head a fraction to look into the first guard's now panicky eyes.

"Fine, fine. Get in-," The guard cracked and ducked to buzz open the gate.

"'Bout damn time." He heard Skye grumble before being pushed forward by a small but forceful hand on his back.

"You sure you can take me?" Ward taunted, "Maybe you ought to take one of the guards with you."

"I got it," Skye said staunchly, more for the guards' benefit than his.

Ward scoffed, which earned him a sharp jab from Skye's ICER. He set his jaw to prevent himself from wincing. Trip had given him a good beating on the Bus to make their story more believable.

"Coulson's girl?" Another guard approached them once they neared the door of the facility. Skye said nothing, no doubt wearing that stubborn look of hers. Ward jerked his cuffs to the left and Skye yanked him back. That was his cue to her that the facility was indeed Hydra.

"Your point?" She asked stiffly. Ward peered at the guard, yup, he was definitely one of the guys that had been in Havana with him and Garrett.

The guard slid open the fortified door with a smirk, "Welcome."

The second the door slammed shut behind them a man in a tailored black suit strode up to them and Skye unlocked Ward's cuffs.

"The tea from Indonesia was certainly exquisite," the man said in a form of a greeting.

Ward replied comfortably, rubbing at the spots where the cuffs had dug into his skin, "You're mistaken. The tea was clearly from French Guiana."

The man nodded curtly at turned to Skye, reaching into his suit, "The hell's she doing here?"

"Easy, Joseph, she's with me. This is Skye." Ward slipped between Joseph's gun and Skye, shielding her from harm.

"You and this pretty thing?" Joseph scoffed, lowering his gun but not putting it away. Ward eased away from Skye to stand beside her, swinging an arm around her waist lazily drawing her to his side.

"Now that Garrett's gone, I can finally mix business with pleasure. He never believed that I could compartmentalize." Ward drawled, sliding his hand down to her hip.

Joseph eyed them for a moment before stowing the gun away, "You checked her for wires?"

Ward turned up the corner of his mouth jeeringly and Joseph caught on immediately.

"You sly bastard." The suited man said with a chuckle. Ward felt Skye stiffen at his side. He ran his thumb in circles around her hip, not for show, but hoping to comfort her a little, let her know that his wasn't who he really wanted to be.

"Were the defenses convincing?" Joseph asked as he began to lead them down the hall.

"Very. You had me worried for a few seconds there," Ward assured him. He moved his arm up to rest lightly on the small of Skye's back.

"So why her?" Joseph asked abruptly as if Skye wasn't walking alongside with them. Ward remembered he was never one to treat women like actual humans.

"Why not her?" Ward countered, pulling Skye back to his side. It really wasn't necessary but he liked the feeling of her against him, knowing that she was close by and safe. For the time being.

"Garrett and Raina wanted her nearby and things just kind of… happened." Ward finished suggestively.

Joseph was silent for a while before he remarked casually, "Never took you to have a weakness for pretty things."

At the word "weakness" Ward's stomach turned over and he instinctively pulled away from Skye before realizing his mistake.

"My prettiness isn't the only thing he fell for," Skye said in a sultry voice, resting a hand on Ward's chest, closing the newly formed gap between them. Relaxing a little, Ward glanced cautiously at the suited man beside him who had narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Where to first? I could go for a Scotch. We've been on the run from Coulson's damn team for far too long." Ward said, talking through the lump in his throat.

"We'll get you a drink and you can tell us how you managed to break out."

Once Ward had recited the practiced story of how Skye had broken him out after falling for him and betraying Coulson's team, Joseph summoned a foot soldier to take them to their quarters. As Garrett's right hand man, or "Golden Boy" as the foot soldier referred to him as, Ward and Skye were given one or the roomier and nicer private rooms.

After they scoured the room for bugs and hidden cameras, Skye whirled on him.

"Nice going, _Golden Boy_. I thought you were better than that." She hissed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ward replied edgily

Skye jabbed her finger in his chest, "You slipped out there. If you want to be able to do this then you need to be able to accept that you have weaknesses and not jump each time you hear that word."

So she had noticed. "Why are you so angry, Skye?" He snapped, turning away from her. This was not a good time to have this fight, "I thought you wanted to be here."

"I need to know that I can count on you to have my back." She retorted, grabbing his arm to turn him back to her, but he was much too strong for her to really do much damage.

"I won't happen again." He said shortly but Skye darted in front of him, her eyes flashing.

"How do I know that?" she demanded, "How do I know you won't crack again and betray me- the team-?"

Ward leaned in, pointing to himself angrily, "I have trained _years_ for this sort of thing. I'm your damn SO!"

"Not anymore, you're not," Skye fired back. Somewhere along their fight their faces had become dangerously close so he could see her eyes widen and her pupils dilate ever so slightly as her expression changed quickly.

"Someone's coming," She whispered, her tone completely different from what it had been just seconds ago. Ward heard it too- heavy footsteps growing louder as they approached.

"Joseph." He deadpanned as he pinpointed the pattern before he pushed Skye against the wall and crashed his lips onto hers. She protested at first, but the second the door opened, her hand was under his shirt and her tongue was in his mouth.

There was a small cough behind them and Ward broke the kiss, catching a glimpse of Skye's wary look before turning to the intruder.

"What?" He asked irritably, not pulling away from Skye.

Joseph gestured toward the door, "Bradbury wants to meet with you-."

"Can't it wait until later?" Skye whined and Ward felt himself being pulled down to her lips again. Before he could even get a proper kiss in, he was wrenched back violently and Joseph had moved between him and Skye.

"What the hell, man?" Ward shouted, advancing toward the suited man, reaching out to shove him, but Ward froze as soon as Joseph pulled out his gun. He saw Skye's eyes widen as she pressed herself against the wall.

"Jesus, what the hell?" She yelled, her eyes flicking between Ward, Joseph and the gun.

Ward inched closer, "Man, just put down the gun-," But the moment he heard the safety click off he had his own sidearm out and trained at Joseph's head.

"Put the goddamned gun down, Joseph," Ward ordered, briefly glancing over at Skye before fixing his eyes back on the other man with the gun. Coulson was going to kill him for stowing a gun away if he wasn't already being murdered by the Director for letting this happen.

Joseph didn't waver, "She can't be trusted. Don't worry, we'll find you another plaything soon. We all know you don't get attached to things for a long time."

"Put the gun down!" Ward raised his voice, his mind going into specialist mode, "Damn it, Joseph!" He shouted when the Hydra agent kept his gun fixed on the hacktivist. She looked like she was barely keeping it together.

"You won't shoot me Grant." Was all the response that he got.

Ward gritted his teeth, "They need her _alive_. Those were my orders."

Joseph's eyes never left his target, "You don't have to watch, Bradbury's waiting for you." He said calmly.

Ward heard Skye whimper and that alone nearly made him empty his magazine into the Hydra agent.

"What are you doing Joseph?" Ward asked evenly, as though it were all an assessment.

"Eliminating the target."

Ward grimaced, "Exactly,"

He didn't flinch when he heard the first shot, nor when the second shot rang out, reverberating around the room, mingling with Skye's scream.

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><p><strong>Again, sorry for the wait. I promise the next chapter will be up tomorrow. Review!<strong>


	13. Chapter 13: Skye

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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><p><em>Bang.<em>

Skye knew she screamed- how could she not when Joseph's blood splattered all over her. She fell to the floor half sobbing from relief and whirlwind of fear, panic, disgust and horror. She pressed against the wall, trying to move as far away from the body as possible, dry heaving the entire time. She didn't have to look up to see that Ward hadn't moved since his finger pulled the trigger. Skye wanted to jump up and demand what in the fucking hell had just happened and if they had been compromised but she couldn't move, let alone talk.

Suddenly Ward stepped swiftly over the body and reached out to her. Instinctively, Skye cowered away. Was he going to kill her now? Had this been the plan all along?

"Shh, it's okay, Skye, he's dead now." Ward withdrew his hands, crouching near her, misinterpreting her actions.

"Are-are you going to kill me?" She said between forced breaths.

Ward's eyes widened, stunned, "Wha-? No, Skye,"

She was hysterical, "Then why did you shoo-." Then Ward's larger hand was covering her mouth, making her hyperventilate even more.

"We haven't been compromised and we're on the same team. I'm not going to hurt you. That was just a test, _trust me_."

He said the last part with so much fervor that Skye had to believe him. Even if she didn't trust the earnest expression on his face, she couldn't get out of here without Ward's help.

"What are we going to do?" She stammered, breathing hard, still fighting the panic.

Ward sat back on his heels for a second before rising to his feet. "We're going to play the part."

Skye got up shakily with Ward's help, "how did you know you were supposed to kill him?" She knew he hated killing as much as he was a stickler for orders

"They just wanted to make sure I didn't go soft while I was with you." He responded, "Stay here," He added as he walked to stand beside the door so that when it opened two seconds later, he was hidden by the door swinging open. Two soldiers rushed in, guns up, scanning the room for danger. Skye let out a small scream upon their entrance, making them focus their attention on her. She looked beyond their rifles to see another well-dressed man stride across the threshold, watching as Ward grabbed the man's gun hand and yank it down so he fell on his knees, momentarily disabled while the specialist's free hand pressed his own gun to the other man's temple. Immediately, the soldiers flipped their guns to point at Ward.

"At ease." The man told his soldiers lightly, as if his brains weren't about to be blown all over the floor by Ward's Beretta.

"Grant Ward."

"Bradbury." Ward said as he released the man and stowed his gun in his waistband. Skye looked from Ward to Bradbury, letting confusion flood her face.

"Excuse me, would someone care to explain this?" She demanded, sweeping her arm around to indicate the body on the ground, soldiers with assault rifles and the two men shaking hands like the last man to come in hadn't tried to kill her.

"You must be Skye." Bradbury stepped over to Skye, taking her hand graciously although she didn't really offer it to him, "my apologies but there are certain steps we must take to ensure security."

"Security?" Skye said incredulously, "I almost _died _ just now." She snapped, taking her hand out of his.

Bradbury chortled, as if it were all just a game to him, "Allow me to explain." He gestured for the new arrivals at the facility to take a seat at the small table. Sitting down himself, he waited for Skye to take a reluctant seat next to Ward before starting.

"Joseph was a liability. Crass, unsubtle, amateurish and too hungry for power. So we eliminated the threat. All he was ever good for was relaying orders and being the poster boy. When it came to real stuff, he had to go. We sent him in to cross you off because we knew there was no way he could touch you with Ward there."

"Garrett used to mention Bradbury when we were training. He told me to expect this sort of thing and I did." Ward chimed in.

Bradbury leaned in, all-business now, "Grant, we could use you running command here."

Ward shook his head, "No, I couldn't. I'm more of a field work type of guy." He said but Skye placed a hand over his on the table and he turned to look at her questioningly.

"You need to rest after being on the run for so long. God knows I need time to recover after that stunt." She shot a look to Bradbury before continuing, "Let's settle here for a bit, lay low until we decide what to do next." She coaxed but her eyes were trying to tell him that running command meant doing recon and Coulson would love all the intel he could get. Especially since Ward had that gun hidden away which disobeyed Coulson's direct orders.

Ward's eyes lingered on hers while he thought. "I'll sleep on it." He told Bradbury.

The man nodded and rose, "We'll leave you undisturbed until then."

"Wait. Can you send someone to clean this up?" Skye asked.

Bradbury turned to her, his face half hidden in the shadows, "I thought you would be able to stomach this kind of thing after being on the run…escaping the direct clutches of SHEILD and betraying your fellow teammates."

Skye stared back at him coolly, "I did what needed to be done but that doesn't mean I pad my head with it when I sleep at night." God, with all this awesome lying, she'd be damned if Coulson didn't give her something short of a trophy.

"Very well. Take him away. I'll have someone here to wipe off this bastard's blood." Bradbury said, addressing the soldiers, then the supposed couple. Ward walked him to the door after the soldiers carried off Joseph's body. He stayed there until he announced,

"He's gone."

Skye slumped against the table and asked the obvious question, "Can we trust him?"

"We can trust him to be the Hydra agent that he is," Ward replied firmly.

"Can I trust you?" Skye asked more quietly. She watched as he moved towards her to put his arms around her but she pulled away and walked past him, " I need to wash this blood off,"

He followed her to the small bathroom in the room but was stopped by the knock on the door. "That'll be the cleanup crew."

Alone in the bathroom, Skye leaned over the sink and stared into the mirror, allowing herself a minute to panic before she ran her hands under the water, giving herself a pep talk. She was here to help rebuild SHIELD, to rise out of the dust and destroy Hydra once and for all.

And where the hell had Ward gotten that gun?

The thought popped into her head out of nowhere and when a soft knock sounded on the door, she opened it with every intention of asking Ward how he managed to smuggle in a _real_ gun with _very real_ bullets.

"The gun-?"

"May." He answered without missing a beat, "I don't know," He said quickly when she opened her mouth to ask why.

"Sit down, I'll help you."

Skye obediently took a seat on the lid of the toilet while Ward took a washcloth to her face and body, wiping away the traces of violence.

"I'm sorry it got all over you. It should come off your clothes though. Meanwhile, you can wear my shirt to sleep." He offered, catching Skye off guard. She hadn't thought about what she was going to do while her clothes were being washed. She certainly wasn't about to sleep naked in the same bed as Ward but they hadn't brought anything with them except guns and a couple of knifes. But yet, sleeping in his shirt seemed too…domestic.

"I only do button ups." Skye replied lamely. Ward gave a small smile and without a warning, pulled his black shirt over his head and folded it neatly on the countertop.

"I'll be outside." He said with a small smirk. Skye nodded, a little speechless, trying to clear her mind of his finely sculpted chest. It wasn't as if she had never seen him shirtless- she'd seen his chest plenty of times, but he had never stripped in front of her before much less so she could wear his shirt.

After taking off her bloodstained clothes and giving them a good scrub, she pulled on Ward's shirt, which was still contained some of his body heat. The tshirt was just long enough to cover her bottom. Walking out of the bathroom, she noticed first the sharp smell of bleach before she saw that Ward had turned off all the lights but one lamp next to the bed. He was waiting for her, perched on the edge of the bed and as she approached him, she saw his eyes skim up and down her body almost as if involuntarily.

"You can take that side," he said, his voice oddly uneven. She noticed that he offered her the side farthest away from where the shooting happened.

As they settled into the mattress, Ward turned the lamp off then turned on his side so his back was to her. Skye knew it was only appropriate but she wanted to screw appropriate and protocol. All she wanted was to be comforted, not professional.

"Ward," She whispered, placing a light hand on his arm until he turned over. She traced her fingers down the muscles of his arm, "can you just…?"

His arms slid easily around her, pulling her closer to him for the hundredth time that day, but she didn't mind.

"Skye," He said hoarsely, but she shushed him. She was exhausted and didn't feel like fighting him so she buried her face in his shoulder and placed a light kiss to his bare skin which earned her an unsuppressed shiver from him. Smiling, she inhaled his scent before drifting off.

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><p><strong>Review please!<strong>


	14. Chapter 14: Ward-Skye

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

Endless thanks to LisaMichelle25 for reviewing and , Katie 452 and plainmnmemy for following/favoriting!

A/N: So I write this on paper first before typing it up and for whatever reason I suddenly and rather randomly switched from Ward's POV to Skye's unknowningly. I just found this out when I started typing this up… haha sorry.

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><p><em>Ward<em>

Waking up with Skye in his arms was one of the best feelings in the world. Remembering what had led to that, however, was not. He had killed again and while there was no such thing as a truth serum, Ward's reaction to Skye asking if his grandmother knew he killed people was real. Gramsy had no idea that part of his job description including taking lives and he was too ashamed to tell her.

His thoughts shifted to Skye as she moved against him, snuggling closer. He had no idea what she was thinking half the time-one second she was hot, the next she was cold but he accepted it for now because her hot moments were always worth five of her cold ones. Although he enjoyed spending time alone with her, he didn't particularly like the part where he was washing blood off her skin. Blood that he had spilled.

"Whattimeisit?" She mumbled, eyes still closed. Ward cleared his throat, checking his watch,

"Six," "Mmm," She shifted her head on his chest as her hand slid down his chest to rest on his abdomen. Ward's breath hitched and he began to slide out of the beset before she could find out exactly why the sheets had suddenly risen off their legs. His plan was foiled when she reached out and curled her hand into his side and he twitched involuntarily, still trying to let her head slide off his shoulder.

She laughed breathily, "I forgot, Super Spy is ticklish."

"I should… I should just go and uh…" He said thickly, trying to shift away.

Skye fell back against the mattress and pulled the blankets back around her. "Wake me up in two hours," She grumbled as he headed for the bathroom to take a very cold shower. He needed to screw his head back on straight and focus on the task at hand- infiltrating Hydra long enough to get information back to Coulson before getting the hell out of there.

He heard a brisk knock on the door as soon as he got out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around his waist, Ward went to answer the door. He caught sight of Skye sitting upright in the bed, hair tousled, blankets pooled around her legs.

Glancing through the peephole, he identified their visitor. "Now's not a good time, Bradbury." He yelled, not opening the door. "All I need is your answer." The visitor replied. Ward heard a faint click from the other side of the door and he turned to look at Skye. Interpreting his expression correctly, she got out of bed and padded across the room to hand him an ICER, arming herself with a similar weapon.

"An answer to what?"

"Command," Ward glanced at Skye, who nodded and held up three fingers.  
>"We'll be here three days but I'll do it until we leave." He replied, keeping his eyes locked on the hacktivist.<p>

"Where are you going to go after that?"

Ward turned back to face the door, "Stateside. I've got some loose ends to tie up." He said vaguely, mouthing to Skye, _we're not going to the States for a while after this._

"Breakfast's in the cafeteria. I'll see you in Command in an hour."

"Yup," Again, Ward waited until his footsteps died away before turning to talk to Skye. "How long will it take you to hack the system?"

She took his ICER from him and returned it to the table, next the rest of their weapons, "I won't know until I can see it for myself. Sending a signal to notify the team won't take long but the masking process could take much longer.

"We're going to need to do a little recon and find out their numbers so Coulson can decide whether or not to take the facility or not."

Skye stepped the bathroom, "You done? Here, take your pants." He caught his clothes deftly and she ran her eyes over his towel clad body appreciatively, just like he had done last night when she came out of the bathroom in his tshirt. Her eyes traveling back up to his, she started talking again. "They're dispatching a team from the Triskelion but that's all they can afford for now. Coulson and May should be meeting with the Italian government any day now so we might have extra reinforcements. Let's just hope that when this place went down, the SHIELD agents took a few with them."

Ward was back in his jeans and checking the magazines in their guns when Skye emerged from the bathroom, jacket folded over one arm, wearing a tank and her leggings. "Here's your shirt back. It's clean and everything. I mean, I didn't wash it, but- yeah. Thanks."

Ward took his shirt back from her and slowly pulled it back on, fully aware that she was watching.

"I do have to admit, though, you wore that towel quite well." She said unabashedly. "And I'd like to see how you pull off a button up," he shot back, smirking. Weighing an ICER in his hand, he sighed,

"I see Fitz still hasn't lost that ounce."

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><p><em>Skye<em>

Over the next two days, Ward and Skye watched the occupants carefully, keeping a mental tally of all the people they encountered. Ward managed to sneak Skye a couple hours each day at a private computer and they kept the team updated the best they could while extracting tidbits of information from within the facility.

It was hard to say whether or not they got closer. Physically, yes- Skye fell asleep and woke up in his arms or curled into his side and they kept up the affectionate couple act whenever they were around others. However, during the day, Skye hardly ever spoke to Ward- he was often times caught up in his tasks running command and she would either kick back and watch him or wander the facility once Ward had made it clear that she was not to be touched and that she posed no threat whatsoever. Even when they did get a chance to talk, they were usually in the presence of others and Ward turned into this dark and rather coarse character, sly and slightly crude at times, completely different from the smooth and noble person she'd known on the Bus. While Dark Ward was somehow alluring, Skye found herself confused with resentment for him stirring just beneath the surface, the old anger threatening to come back. However, during their solitary nights together, he was gently and courteous, still all-business but he stroked her hair as she fell asleep and looked deep into her eyes when she talked.

On the third night, she asked him, "Who are you?" When he didn't respond right away, she added, "In the day, you're possessive and vulgar but at night you're chivalrous and sweet. I feel like those should be switched… angsty at night and innocent by day. But anyway, all I've ever known you to be is professional and emotionless so who are you?"

He pulled away from her and propped his head up with one arm, "I'm Grant Douglas Ward, agent of nothing and I don't know which person I am. I know which person I want to be- gently and chivalrous and professional. But there's also a possessive and dark side to me that I can't deny."

Skye pulled him to her so that he was leaning over her, supporting himself on his elbows. She was tired of being confused and doubting his every move. "I want you to be that person but it has to be genuine." She lowered her voice, "however, I do find a possessive Grant Ward who is driven by emotion very enticing."

Ward looked down at her, his eyes dark. She leaned up to capture his lips with hers but he pulled away at the last second, rolling off her to lie on his back, "We have to big day tomorrow."

As if that was a legitimate enough excuse.

"Exactly, it's our last night together…" Skye commented suggestively but he said nothing, "Fine. I guess Robot doesn't want to find out what happens when two monsters decide to get _involved_." She huffed, rolling to the far edge of the bed.

A minute later, he scooted to sling an arm around her waist. "Not tonight," He whispered, kissing the edge of her jaw. Skye cupped his face with her hand, keeping him hovering over her face and sighed. Come tomorrow, she would be back on the Bus in her homey bunk and he would be back behind bars. Figuratively speaking. The only bars she had seen at the Playground were the ones in the training room.

She turned to face him, "okay, but we're not doing it in your cell room. I'm not really into the whole cameras thing-," She started but he silenced her with a chaste kiss to the lips.

"Go to sleep," He coaxed, "tomorrow, we'll find out if Triplett's been doing an adequate job training you." "Oh, he's great. He's sympathetic and understanding and goes easy on my and doesn't force me to do push-ups when I'm late-." But Ward's hand easily covered her mouth and she laughed before flipping over on her back and obeying his order to sleep.

When she was shaken away the next morning, the sky was still dark. "Five more minutes," She moaned, rolling out of his reach but he ripped the blankets off her, exposing her bare legs to the cool air. She lunged for the blankets with a shriek, "What the hell?'

"We have to get ready. They could show up any minute now." He said. The specialist was already dressed and showered and had lined up their weapons on the table, no doubt cleaned and loaded.

Skye sat up reluctantly. Coulson hadn't given a specific time of their arrival so that Skye and Ward would be just as surprised as the Hydra agents when SHIELD stormed the facility. Squealing softly, Skye ran across the cold floor to the bathroom. Stripping off the shirt borrowed from the facility, she showered quickly, then dressed, accepting an ICER from Ward as she returned to the main room, slipping a knife into the lining of her boot for extra measure.

It was mid-afternoon when Skye heard the beginnings of the raid. She was in Command with Bradbury and a couple of his minions, helping them hack into a bank account in the Cayman Islands. Technically, she was manipulating the software to make it look like she was transferring money into the Hydra account while the actual accounts remained untouched, but they didn't need to know that. Ward had stepping out briefly to go solve a problem in the Tactics division when the sound of glass shattering and the wailing alarm broke the quiet.

Skye's head shot up to look at Bradbury, who was already bellowing orders into his radio. As inconspicuously as she could, Skye inserted a flashdrive that had been hidden in her sleeve and began to download Hydra intel.

"Skye!" Bradbury barked and she jumped, looking over the top of her computer, trying not to let the guilt show on her face. He was already looking at her suspiciously. "Where's Grant?"

"I'm pulling up the camera feeds now." She said hurriedly. The giant monitor on the wall suddenly burst into dozens of small screens. A second after she pinpointed the feed that contained Grant Ward in it, she saw three heavily armed SHIELD agents burst in, taking Ward out almost immediately with five ICERS to the chest.

"We need to get out of here!" Skye screamed, jumping up from her computer. Bradbury gestured for her to come to the front next to him while his cronies positioned themselves behind the rows of computers, guns drawn. Skye unholstered her ICER but before she could raise it, she felt herself being dragged back by her hair.

"What the-?" Suddenly, an arm wrapped tightly around her neck, lifting her partially off the ground and the muzzle of a gun pressed against the side of her head.

"Shut up!" Bradbury growled, his voice right next to her ear. Skye struggled against him but he only tightened his hold on her neck, his arm digging into her windpipe, making her drop her weapon.

"We should be running." She choked, feet scrambling for purchase on the ground as he lifted her higher up still. Her elbows flew back desperately, trying to catch him in the ribs but black spots were beginning to appear in the edge of her vision.

"There's nowhere to run," Bradbury said harshly, digging the gun into her scalp, "congratulations, you've just been promoted to my bargaining chip."

"Bastard!" She rasped as the doors flew open. Dodging the bullets of Bradbury's men, Melinda May and Phil Coulson tumbled into the room, followed closely by two other agents dressed in black tactical gear. With a few well-placed shots, Bradbury's minions were taken out by the SHIELD team.

"Stop! Or I'll put a bullet in her brains." Bradbury threatened maliciously. Skye fought for a breath as she heard the bullet click into the chamber. May approached them slowly and Bradbury stepped back, dragging Skye along with him. "She's your special project, isn't she?" He teased, directing his question to Coulson.

"You think I don't want to see traitors punished?" Coulson replied, keeping his gun trained steadily on Skye's assailant, "because I would. Very much so. But I'd like it to be by my own hand, not yours."

The hacktivist gasped for breath, her head spinning. She wasn't going to last very much longer. May was still circling them as Bradbury turned so he could see both agents of SHIELD. Skye could feel the chuckling rumbling in her attacker's chest, before he spoke, "we both know you're too soft-."

But suddenly a silenced gunshot ran out, still audible in the room and Skye was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, splattered with blood again while Bradbury flew backward.

Glancing up at the doorway, she caught a glimpse of something fiery red and an unfamiliar voice said offhandedly,

"Sorry, but you were taking too long. I got impatient."

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><p>Hope you liked it! Let me know if you prefer split chapters like this or if I should just stick to one POV each chapter Also, point of clarification, I refer to both Trip and Ward as specialists but only when they're not in the same scene as each other. If they are, I won't use the term specialist. Just a btdubs =) Review please 3<p> 


	15. Chapter 15: Ward-Skye

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or Agents of SHIELD**

**Thanks to all those who favorited/followed this story and me!**

**Special thanks to :**

**Guest (you know who you are) for reviewing and giving me feedback on split chapters- this one's for you…this isn't really the kind of split chapter I wanted to write but hope you like it anyway**

**And Katie 452 for letting me know about the formatting error- I think I fixed it now and sorry for the inconvenience!**

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><p><em>Ward<em>

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard someone was trying to beat my espionage rating so I just had to come here and cross him off before he could even try."

"Really, I didn't think you would mind," Ward countered, sitting up gingerly on the thin mattress. Back in the Cage. Those ICERs to the chest really took a toll. When the woman didn't reply, he pressed, "I thought you went dark."

The woman didn't move an inch, "I went off the grid."

Ward ran his hands through his hair then rubbed the stubble on his jaw, squinting at her, "Same difference."

"No." Finally, Ward's visitor stepped closer, "going dark was when you killed Agent Hand and disappeared on your team for days." She said sharply but Ward didn't wince.

"I was under orders."

"Is that the bullshit you're telling yourself these days?" She crossed her arms and glared at him.

Ward laughed scornfully, "Funny, I keeping getting that as an answer. Just because you want a fresh start, a new ledger, doesn't mean I have to want that too. So, why are you here, Tash?"

"Don't call me that."

"You're just bitter because I pulled off the biggest snow job of the decade," Ward taunted, but she didn't fall for it.

"So you pulled off a goddamn blizzard. Props to you, Grant, you just became the dirtiest man alive," she replied moderately.

"_Why are you here?_"

Natasha Romanoff raised an eyebrow, "I'm just here to return Cap's cards to Coulson." She said breezily before stalking out of the room.

His second visitor of the day was Skye.

"Hi. I brought you your watch and a change of clothes." She said, throwing the bundle on his cot before dropping down on it herself. Ward was doing his usual push-up routine and continued as if Skye hadn't come in at all. He knew she was perfectly capable of carrying on the conversation on her own.

"So the Black Widow is here," Skye bubbled excitedly, reminding Ward of her obsession with the Avengers and those with supernatural powers, "I mean, _wow,_ did you know she saved me?"

"Wait, what do you mean she saved you?" He sat up and looked over at her, alarmed. What had gone on when he was in Tactics?

"Bradbury held me as hostage. Threatened to kill me to get Coulson to back down." Skye said flippantly, eager to continue her monologue from before, "it wasn't a big deal, I'm still alive, aren't I? We still got out of there and took over the place, right?"

Ward just looked at her, not saying a word. He resumed his push-ups, channeling his anger into his workout.

"Oh, don't look so upset. You didn't know that he was going to pull a stunt like that." Skye said.

Ward grunted and Skye continued on.

"I was saved by an _Avenger_. I know that it's probably totally normal for you but seriously this is like a milestone for me."

"Well, you didn't expect her to let you die, did you?" Ward said rhetorically.

Skye crossed her legs and rolled her eyes, "Oh, I see, you're jealous because you didn't get to save me and she did."

Ward got up and walked to her, placing both hands on either side of her, leaning over her petite frame until she was nearly flat on her back, their lips just mere inches apart.

"You're damn straight that's right." He growled.

She smiled up at him teasingly, "I didn't loop the camera feed in here."

Instantly, he sprang back from her as if burned.

"Kidding, God, as if Coulson didn't already know that we're doing it." She rolled her eyes again, sitting up.

"We're not." Ward replied, confused.

Skye pointed at herself barely containing her laughter, "Joking again. Sheesh, Robot, loosen up a bit. I did loop the feed before I came in here." She bit her lip and Ward felt his pants grow uncomfortably tight.

"Surely you've got better things to do than coming in here to fangirl over Natasha Romanoff to a prisoner?" Ward dropped back down into plank position, attempting to clear his mind and regain control of his body.

"Wow…okay you're definitely jealous," Skye said slowly amusement coating her every word, "Tell me, how does it feel to be second best to a woman? _I heard she can rupture you spleen with just a breath, blindfolded."_

Ward grunted again, hiding a smile, "Get out and go train."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her hop off the cot and walk to the door.

"Oh… and I plan on going to the meet with Raina. Shhh, our little secret, don't tell." She divulged before ducking out of the room.

He swore under his breath. Trust Skye to drop a bomb like that and then run away.

The next time he saw Skye again was when he was being escorted down to the lap so Simmons could do a check up on his larynx along with any other injuries he suffered during the raid. Skye was at the punching bag with Triplett, but sweating up a storm, evidence that they had been at it for a while.

"Tuck your elbows in," Ward advised as May walked him through the cargo hold. Skye turned her head to shoot him a glare before refocusing on the punching bag that Triplett was holding for her.

"Move." May gave him a shove forward into the lab but Ward caught sight of a shadow of a smile on her face for a brief second.

"Ah, Ag-. Ward." Simmons corrected herself a little awkwardly. It was the first time he had heard her slip up on his name.

"Simmons," he nodded to her comfortably before looking around the lab, "Where's Fitz?"

The biochemist gestured for him to sit next to the Holotable. "He's in the back. Dr. Cavaco is running a few tests. I'm going to take a few x-rays of your throat, you know the drill…"

As Simmons busied herself, Ward spared another glance in the direction of the cargo hold. To his surprise, he saw Romanoff and Coulson entering the doorway of the lab.

"Agent Romanoff, Director Coulson, what a surprise," Simmons exclaimed upon seeing her.

"Agent Simmons," Romanoff nodded to the biochemist and Coulson offered the English woman a smile before fixing his gaze on Ward.

"I'll return to the cockpit." May excused herself. Simmons returned to Ward's side now that all the formalities were out of the way.

"I thought I told you not to put any strain on your chest and ribcage," She said crossly.

Ward looked her head on, "I didn't,"

"You were doing push-ups, Ward. I have been monitoring your vitals in the room and before you ask, I picked up Skye's readings in there too so I know she was in there." Simmons said the last part in hushed tones so the agents on the other side of the lab wouldn't hear. Then she continued on, louder, "You need to rest. The shots to your chest from the ICERs cracked your ribs even more."

"Simmons, do you mind if I have a word with Ward?" Coulson asked, stepping forward.

"Of course not, sir, as long as you don't plan on causing more harm to his injuries or inflicting new ones?"

It took Ward a moment to realize that she was being completely serious.

"You don't need to leave the room, Jemma," Coulson assured her and Simmons backed up to give Coulson more space.

"You left Skye alone in the facility." It wasn't an accusation or a question. Just a statement.

"Yes sir."

"Alone, with Bradbury. In a hostile territory."

"It was necessary, sir, we couldn't be side by side the entire time, it would be too suspicious." Ward explained, keeping his voice from sounding too defensive, "I had no idea that he would pull a stunt like that," He said, echoing Skye's words.

Coulson glared at him for a few seconds, "Technically, you could have… but it doesn't matter. I just wanted to get mad at someone for what happened to Skye."

"Sir!" Simmons exclaimed reproachfully while Romanoff let out a huff of laughter.

There was a sound of laughter, completely unrelated to Coulson's last words and Ward automatically turned his head towards the sound, his chest aching familiarly, like it did every time he heard her laugh. Skye and Triplett entered the lab, both chuckling at a joke and toweling down. Ward turned his head quickly back to Simmons and Coulson but not before catching the eye of the Black Widow who looked at him with a steely glint in her eye.

Simmons however, was looking curiously flushed as she dismissed Ward, handing him his meds before bustling around, cleaning up the equipment. Coulson gestured to Ward,

"Agent Romanoff, do you mind?"

Wordlessly, Romanoff gripped Ward's arm and led him out of the lab before he could so much as catch Skye's eye.

"I need a favor," he said as they reached the top of the spiral staircase.

"No thanks." Romanoff responded before he could elaborate.

"I'd owe you one," Ward pressed.

Romanoff pushed him into the Cage, "And I'm not sure I'd ever come to collect." She reached to close the door but he blocked her. The former KGB agent's expression hardened but Ward took his chances.

"It's for her."

"You have thirty seconds,"

He stepped back but not enough to allow the door to swing closed, "Don't let her go to Hong Kong to meet her father."

Romanoff turned to him more fully, her eyes slightly narrowed, "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Just don't. Ask Coulson if you have to, just don't let her. Please."

Suddenly, she leaned in, her face lined up with his. He stared back, refusing to back down.

"Let's be clear here. I don't buy this reformed, lovesick puppy crap of yours. Just because Coulson and his team are eager to forgive and forget, doesn't mean I am. You're a traitor, Grant Ward and if it were up to me, you would have more than a few cracked ribs to be concerned about."

"Come on, Tash, we both know that I can take you in a fight, especially since Clint Barton isn't here to fight your battles and justify your actions." Ward said softly.

Romanoff only sneered, "You could use someone like that right now, couldn't you?" She said before pushing him back to shut the door firmly.

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><p><em>Skye<em>

"Don't do it,"

"What, eat this sandwich? I'd love to have your figure but I can't give up mayonnaise for it, sorry." Skye retorted before taking a big bite out of the sandwich Trip had just made for her.

The Black Widow didn't turn away, "Don't go to Hong Kong."

Skye choked, glancing up to look at Trip to make sure he didn't hear, "Oh my god, shut up!" She hissed, putting her food down.

"You didn't tell them." Romanoff stated, walking around the counter to grab a bottle of water.

"I didn't tell anyone but Ward and obviously even he can't be trusted," the hacktivist grumbled.

Romanoff opened her mouth to speak but Skye cut her off, "Not here."

"Oh, I didn't- uhm, can I get you something, Agent Romanoff?" Trips asked, flustered and Skye hid a smile. The team was still getting used to having an Avenger on the Bus, no matter how many times Skye said, "I told you so," to them.

"I'm all set here, but thank you, Agent." The Black Widow replied, waving her bottle of water for him to see, "We'll talk later," She promised to Skye before walking away.

Trip watched her go, "Want to get one of those suits?"

"_Trip._"

"Alright, alright, so what did she want to talk about?" he asked, taking a big bite out of his sandwich.

Skye responded quickly, "Training." She resumed eating her lunch as the specialist raised an eyebrow at her

"Am I not good enough?"

"Your sandwiches are mediocre. So, how long do you think the Black Widow will be here? Do you think the others will show up before I might just faint if Captain America comes on board."

"I'll make sure to give you an adequate warning in advance if he does decide to join us. What do you mean, my sandwiches are mediocre?"

"Have you ever had one of Ward's sandwiches? Or Simmons'?" Skye rolled her eyes but she caught sight of Trip's sudden change in expression, "What?" She deadpanned.

Trip pushed his plate away, looking somber, "Look, Skye…"

Her heart plummeted, whatever he was about to say wasn't going to be good.

"…I know we told you to talk to him and stuff but he's supposed to be punished, not visited every few hours like he's only moved to the Cage for the extra space."

Skye put down her sandwich, appetite gone, "Trip, I know and I don't expect you to understand-,"

The specialist put his hands up as if in surrender, "I know I don't get the whole story, or your history together, but he has to be punished somehow. This really isn't any of my business it's between you and Coulson, but…."

Skye sighed. She knew Trip was just trying to be helpful and just, trying to help her make the right decisions, "I remember that he betrayed us and killed people and that hurt me more than you will ever know, but I still stick to my words. We have to move on now. Ward's a very valuable asset and… I need him. Not… in that way. You know what I'm talking about." Skye smirked, changing the mood back to playful, "Don't worry, you can still train me." She reached over and patted his hand before hopping off her stool and leaving him to clean up the remains of their lunch.

Before Skye could reach the lab to talk to Simmons, she was ambushed by the Black Wido.

"Gah! You can't just come out of the shadows like that!"

"Let's talk Hong Kong."

"Let's not please. I just left a tense conversation with Triplett and I'm not very interested in starting another with someone I know can crush my windpipe with her toes." Skye sidestepped her but Romanoff blocked her easily, "Really? You want to do-si-do out here?"

The Black Widow's expression softened a little, "I'll take you to Hong Kong."

Skye stopped mid-step, her mouth gaping open in surprise, "Wait, seriously? That's it? No 'trust the system' or 'it's too dangerous'?" She eyed the other woman suspiciously, "Does AC know?"

Romanoff shook her head, her expression cryptic, "No one knows but us."

"Does 'us' include Ward?"

"No."

Skye snapped her fingers in mock disappointment, "Darn, I was hoping that we could break him out in the process since we're already disobeying a direct order."

Romanoff gave her a strange look and Skye plastered on a bright smile.

"So any news on Captain America's whereabouts?"

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><p><strong>Sorry about updating late<strong>

**Review please!**


	16. Chapter 16: Skye-Ward

**Disclaimer: I own nothing **

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><p>"Team briefing in five. SHIELD 616 changing course to Kyoto, Japan." May's voice announced over the plane's intercom.<p>

Skye looked up to the direction of the voice coming from a speaker in the ceiling.

"I wonder what's in Japan?" She mused to Fitzsimmons. The trio was playing Scrabble in the lounge and the hacktivist was losing royally to the scientists.

"You mean for us or for you?" Simmons asked vaguely as she spelled out yet another unfamiliar word on the board.

Skye flushed, her heartbeat quickening. Surely they hadn't figured out that she was going to Hong Kong? Could they have made that connection that while they were in Hong Kong, there was a very good chance that Skye would be able to sneak away to catch a flight there?

"I mean, there's probably a SHIELD facility there for us to inspect, but are you asking what you can do for recreation there?" Simmons looked up then eyed Skye curiously, "Are you okay? Your face is very-,"

"I'm fine. It's just… hot in here," Skye said quickly, fanning herself, "are you hot?" she asked Fitz. He was absentmindedly chewing his Chex Mix as he contemplated his next word.

"I'm not hot. You're probably just thinking about I-N-T… intercourse!"

"Fitz!" Both women snapped at him with differing tones. The engineer looked up, alarmed.

"No, I didn't mean with Wa-. No, I meant with or, uh, it's my turn to- it's my ward- word-,"

Simmons shook her head sighing, "Oh, Fitz, you really don't know when to stop talking, do you?" She asked sympathetically, reaching for a handful of his snack but Fitz swatted her hand away.

"Here come Romanoff and Coulson," Skye said as the pair descended the spiral staircase from Coulson's office.

Fitzsimmons jumped up to join them in the Command Center but Skye took her time spelling out her next word before walking into the glass encased door, also taking that time to adjust her expression so Coulson wouldn't pick up any hint of her plan.

When Triplett finally walked in with May, Coulson began his spiel.

"Agent Romanoff has recently informed me that she has heard chatter that a particular SHIELD base in Japan is and has been secured. She has advised that we go there now to join forces with them and determine if they are ready and willing to operate and join us in recovering other facilities and bases."

"They've been secure this whole time and haven't reached out to us?" Trip asked skeptically, leaning against one of the glass walls.

Coulson nodded, "Their dilemma is similar to ours- they have no idea who to trust and haven't reached out in fear our exposing themselves to Hydra."

"While they are free of all Hydra influences, the base is being closely watched by the Japanese government. We have no idea what their stance is when it comes to SHIELD." Romanoff added, crossing her arms.

"Is there a chance that we could be arrested and sent back to the U.S. if we land there?" Simmons asked anxiously and Skye remembered that Simmons had disclosed to her how bothered she had been by the Colonel at Providence.

"Extradition between the U.S. and Japan isn't exactly a pretty affair right now," Trip assured her and Skye saw the pair exchange smiles while Fitz sulked over his bowl of munchies which he had brought with him.

"Agents Romanoff and Triplett will approach the base while Agent May and I meet with the Japanese government to work out a deal," Coulson said, making eye contact with each team member he mentioned.

"And us, sir?" Fitz asked.

Coulson nodded to him, "Fitzsimmons, Skye and Dr. Cavaco will stay on board the plane."

Romanoff spoke up looking a little troubled, "should we take Ward with us, sir?"

The Director looked down, thinking. Skye tensed, waiting for his answer.

"Unless I'm mistaken, Dr. Cavaco has been in the field before?"

The doctor nodded from his spot in the corner slightly behind Fitz.

"Field work is different from specialist work and Ward was a specialist." May reminded them respectfully, "You can take Skye with you and I'll stay behind-,"

"Even if Ward does break out, Agent Triplett and I will be close by to assist. The airfield is not that far from the base," Romanoff pointed out, "We can always sedate the prisoner before we leave."

"He's not going to be able to break out of the Cage. An Asgardian can't do it so there's no way a human can." Skye chimed in, eager to keep Ward on the plane but for reasons different from the rest of the team.

Coulson's eyes unfocused as he mulled over the situation, "Fine. How much flight time do we have left?" He asked May.

"Approximately thirteen hours assuming the weather conditions hold up." May calculated.

"Good. Okay, break." Coulson clapped once, as if he were a highschool football coach dismissing his players. As he headed for the staircase, Skye called out to him,

"Actually, AC, I was wondering if I could talk to you,"

Coulson gestured for her to follow him up to his office. Upon entering, she closed the door behind her, hoping to be undisturbed. Without waiting for an invitation, she sat down on one of the squashy armchairs facing his desk.

"Are you thinking of leaving Ward in Japan?" Skye asked with preamble.

Coulson leaned against the edge of his desk, "The thought has definitely crossed my mind," he admitted.

"But…" Skye prompted.

"He's a valuable asset. The play you two ran in Italy was good and we might need you guys to do it again."

"You didn't by any chance overhear Trip and I talking earlier, did you?" Skye asked with a grin on her face. Coulson gave her a confused look and shook his head and Skye wiped the grin off her face and composed her face into an expression of mock seriousness, "Well then, if I didn't know better, I'd say that you've grown attached and you don't want to let him go. You've gone soft on him." She teased. With any other person, Coulson probably would have gotten angry, but Skye knew that it would take a lot more from her to get him even the least bit upset.

"I still don't trust him, but you're right. I don't want to let him go. Before you say anything, it's because I don't trust anyone else besides us to keep him behind bars. Besides, I have a feeling that you would never forgive me if I just dumped him in Asia."

Skye agreed, "That's very true. The last part, at least." She watched Coulson walked around his desk to take a seat in his swivel chair.

"I don't need to remind you not to go anywhere near the Cage while we're gone, do I?"

"No."

"Thursday's coming up." Couslson commented indifferently.

Disconcerted by the sudden change in topic, Skye resisted the urge to look away from her commanding officer's level eyes, "Uh, why yes, it is. Why? Want me to save you a taco from Taco Thursdays? It's a thing now."

The joke bounced right off Coulson, his eyes sad and helpless, "Please, don't do this to yourself. Some things are better left unknown and I don't want you to get hurt."

So they were back on the topic of Raina and her father.

"Coulson…" Skye whispered, conflicted. She knew he was right. Maybe it was better to leave things as they were. They had a lot going on anyway and she couldn't afford to be distracted. But at the same time, she wanted- no, _needed_ to find out just what kind of a monster she was and why so many people died for her. Skye needed to know if she was capable of hurting her teammates and how to prevent it.

"I won't go," She said as convincingly as possible, silently adding to herself, _alone. I won't go alone_. At least that way, she wasn't completely lying to Coulson. She hoped that she could trust Romanoff to do whatever needed to be done if things turned ugly. Even if that meant putting Skye down on the spot for the good of the team.

The hacktivist was quiet for the rest of the evening. During dinner, she pushed her food around on her plate and made little eye contact with the rest of the team. When Fitzsimons tried to rope her into a game of Spades, she busied herself with her laptop. When Trip offered to spar with her, she retired early to her bunk without visiting Ward first.

"Can I come in?" The door to Skye's bunk slid open, revealing Romanoff.

"Do you sleep in that suit?" Skye mumbled, not looking up.

"I have a plan," She said to the hacktivist, "do you still want to go?"

Skye looked up to the ceiling, drawing attention to the gap between the walls and the top of the plan.e

Romanoff waved a hand carelessly, "I already checked. Fitzsimmons is down in the lab and Agents Triplett and May are in the cockpit. Coulson's back up in his office."

"I still want to go but…why are you helping me?" Skye set her laptop down on her nightstand, giving her undivided attention to the Black Widow sat down next to Skye on the bunk.

"I don't always trust the system. My first instinct is to not trust the system. See, I'm a little like you; I believe that freedom of information is good but it is also powerful. And powerful is dangerous. But I also believe that danger cannot always be avoided. There are things out there that we all deserve to know as human beings. There are also things that are best kept contained and unknown. SHIELD doesn't have the best track record for flow of information but it's a bureaucratic organization and their system is what makes them –made them- successful. But your family history? That secret is something that is entitled to you. SHIELD likes to keep secrets that benefit them, not us. So that's why I'm helping you because I believe that sometimes SHIELD can take their classified documents and levels and go to hell."

"Wow. That was a great speech. So did you tell Coulson about the Japanese facility to get us closer to Hong Kong or did you tell him to because there actually is something for us there?"

"Both. I wouldn't sell out your team for just one ulterior motive. Although there is a more strategic and useful base in South America but Coulson doesn't need to know that yet."

"One last thing… if the need arises… to put…"

"It will be done if need be. But remember, I did take on the Hulk and Loki before. Not at the same time, but you get the point."

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><p>Grant Ward was not a man that was easily surprised so when Fitzsimmons burst into the Cage at approximately 7:25 Wednesday evening, his heart nearly stopped when Fitz yelled,<p>

"Romanoff's taken Skye and disappeared!"

That bitch. Of course she did, she was never one for following direct orders from her equals and that mixed with Skye…

"Ward? What are we going to do?" Simmons asked, her voice grounding him.

"Get Triplett in here right now and tell Coulson we need to go to China _right now_. And get out!" The scientists scrambled to leave the Cage and Ward waiting until the door slammed shut before he released his leftover Berserker rage by throwing a chair over the table. He watched as the chair bounced off the wall, forcing his anger to simmer down. He was going to be part of that extraction team and after he got Skye to safety, he was going to snap Raina's little neck cleanly in two.

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><p><strong>Whoa. Easy there, Ward. Haha did I hear someone say "filler chapter"? because that certainly was one! Sorry guys, I've kind of had something of a writer's block recently but I think I know how I want this all to go down. As always, if you have any ideas for me, feel free to PM me. Review review review (even if filler chapters don't deserve it).<strong>


	17. Chapter 17: Skye

**Disclaimer: I own nothing **

**As always, lots of love to my reviewers and followers/favoriters!**

**I'm pretty excited about this chapter so I hope you guys like it!**

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><p>"Raina."<p>

The girl in the flower dress sauntered up to Skye, her expression indulgent, "Skye. I didn't expect you to come alone."

"Yeah, well, can you really expect Coulson to be here with a basket of fruit after what you put him through?" Skye said scathingly but Raina only smiled sweetly.

"I was referring to Grant Ward. I thought he would have come with you."

Skye scoffed, "Right, like I would bring him here. He's a traitor." She caught herself at the last second, remembering that the world still thought him to be a traitor.

Raina gave the hacktivist a sympathetic look, "So he didn't come after you then?"

"He did but he got his butt kicked." Skye retorted.

Raina gave a tinkling laugh, "So you're not being monsters together then?"

"How did you-,"

"It would be unwise for someone to not ally themselves with you, especially now." Raina's eyes flashed and Skye had to fight the urge to ask her to explain.

Gathering herself, Skye brought the conversation back to the original subject of the meet, "Speaking of which, where is this dear father of mine?"

"You waste no time."

"I've been told that," Skye responded easily. Right before she had entered the building, Romanoff had told her not to linger, to go in, get what she wanted, and come immediately back out.

"He's in the back. Shall we?" Raina began walking back the way she came, not looking back to see if Skye followed her.

Romanoff's voice crackled in Skye's ear, "Go, I can still cover you from there."

So Skye followed, her heart pounding at anticipation for whatever lay behind the door Raina had just walked through. Taking a deep breath, Skye braced herself and opened the door, walking across the threshold.

And blacked out.

"Skye! Skye are you okay? Raise your left hand if you want extraction!" Romanoff barked over comms. Looking around her, the hacktivist kept both hands at her side.

"What happened? Where's my dad?" Skye croaked, catching sight of Raina standing over a sink in the corner.

The girl in the flower dress handed a damp rag to Skye and helped her sit up. Shakily running the cool cloth over her face, Skye looked back to Raina for answers.

"I believe that upon entering the room, you experienced an inflow of raw power from your father. Before today, you probably have never been exposed to so much potential before."

"I don't understand, I've been near Asgardian metals and other alien…stuff before."

"Yes, but this is different. This is power that you can take in and make your own."

Trying to mask her discomfort, Skye asked, "Where's my dad?"

Raina took the rag from Skye and walked it back to the sink, "I asked him to step out so we could talk."

Skye clutched at her pounding head, "So… I absorbed the power?"

Raina pursed her lips, her expression thoughtful, "I have reason to believe that the drug GH-325 has…halted your abilities to draw in the power. Or rather, release it from a hidden valve in your body."

"I don't understand." Skye gasped. Her mind felt like it was about to explode, her body like it was being torn apart, tissue by tissue, "The power is trapped inside me already?"

"Possibly." Raina conceded.

"So what makes me a monster then?"

Raina's constant smile was beginning to turn sickening, "Your heritage does. You've heard of what your parents did in China."

"So why are you so interested in studying me if you already know all of this about me?" Skye demanded, struggling to stay calm.

Raina smiled, but Skye felt herself wanting to throw up, "I told Agent Ward this-,"

"Ward is no agent." Skye corrected sharply.

"Of course. I believe that your species harbors a…characteristic if you will, for evolution." Obviously the words were intended to have a bigger effect than what Skye experienced but she was still really confused.

"Sure, but that's just the whole survival of the fittest thing. It's just nature." Skye said doubtfully.

"No. Not adaption. _Evolution._ That's why you are in this human form. You had to fit in so you changed." Raina explained and Skye noticed a gleam in her eyes, not unlike that of Garrett's when he was still alive.

"I was found as a human baby," Skye interjected stubbornly.

"Sure, but if you want to live by the survival of the fittest theory, then understand that _you are the fittest._ You evolve before and without having to go through adaption, a process that takes decades upon centuries."

Skye still wasn't so ready to give into Raina's theory, "If that were true, I would be in a lot better place now than I am today."

"You're forgetting. In order to do so, you must have access to your full potential. Somehow, that power was stripped away from you as a baby. But you can restore it. You can restore it right now, right here." Raina urged, walking closer. Skye back up against the wall, ignoring the growing pain in her body.

"I don't-,"

"Raina." A terrible voice rang out. The mere sound of it sent shivers down Skye's spine, making the hairs on the back of her neck tingle and her heart pound incessantly.

Raina cast Skye a searching look before excusing herself from the room, "Think about it." She implored.

Skye pressed a trembling hand to her face.

"Skye," Romanoff's gently voice was a welcome sound in her ears.

"Oh…my god," Skye whispered, the awful ripping apart sensation had disappeared but her head was still spinning.

The Black Widow's voice was quiet and Skye knew it had nothing to do with the technology in her ear. "Skye, I heard everything. Give me the word and I'll have us out of here-."

Skye heard raised voices and evidently, so did Romanoff judging by the way she cut herself off to listen in. Suddenly, there was a horrible sound somewhere between a crunch and a splatter followed by and anguished yell. Then the feeling returned and Skye gasped in pain. It was more intense this time, like someone was grasping her insides and twisting them before yanking them apart.

"No, please, please stop!" She begged, scrambling to the other side of the small room.

"Skye." The voice said monotonously.

"Where's Raina?" She demanded, biting back a sob as pain wracked her body. Being shot could not hold a candle to this amount of agony.

"She's temporarily detained. She does not know all." Not waiting for Skye's answer, the voice continued, "You must have to want the power to absorb it. The body does not change itself without the mind."

"Make it stop!" Skye moaned, blinking back tears.

"I cannot. What you're experiencing is a struggle between the mind, body and power. Only you can stop it by accepting your true potential."

"Usually when a father says that, he's talking about his daughter's work in school," Skye gasped, "Just tell me, is there really a secret valve full of power in me?"

"I do not sense it. It is possible it was expelled due to an injury to your torso."

_Quinn's shots to my stomach. I guess there was a silver lining in that after all. _Skye thought bitterly.

"Dad…" Skye shuddered violently as the word left her lips, "I choose not to accept." She raise her left hand and before it could pass three inches above her head, an explosion shook the floor and Skye felt herself being yanked upwards. The agony subsided as Romanoff lightly slapped her face, bringing her out of her state of shock.

"You still with me? Okay, let's get the hell out of here." The Black Widow all but dragged Skye along behind her as they raced down the hallway. When the approached the stairs to go down, Skye screamed as the pain returned.

"he's down there!"

Romanoff changed course and bounded up the stairs, Skye still in tow.

"How're we going to get out of here by going up?" Skye asked, panting.

"You're welcome to go have a showdown with your father downstairs if you'd like," Romanoff shouted, "otherwise up is our best chance."

Skye nodded thought the agent in front of her couldn't see, "Is Spiderman going to rescue us from there?"

"Don't be ridiculous, he doesn't exist," Natasha Romanoff scorned and Skye couldn't help but smile a bit. Until another scream ripped from her mouth and her knees buckled.

Romanoff whipped around, "Skye!"

The hacktivist recovered quickly, "Go! I'm fine but he's getting closer!"

Tumbling out onto the rooftop, Skye's watery eyes saw nothing but the Hong Kong city lights. Normally, they would have appeared beautiful but tonight, they were eerie.

Romanoff strode to the edge of the building and looked down while Skye bent over, trying to catch her breath.

"On second thought, do you have Spiderman's number?" The Black Widow asked and Skye shot her a look, unable to speak.

A gust of wind drew their attention to the sky above them and a dark shadow hovered overhead, slowly lowering itself down until it was fifteen feet above them. Romanoff was at Skye's side in an instant, ready to fight.

"Don't attack!" A voice shouted down from the aircraft's speakers.

"Coulson," Romanoff muttered, easing up, Skye gasped again, the pain returning.

"He's com-," But her own scream cut her off.

She barely heard Romanoff's voice over the gusting air and slam of the door to the rooftop as it opened, "Take her. Now!"

A hand closed around her wrist and spun her around so she was facing a dark tactical vest. An arm wrapped around her middle and suddenly, they were moving upwards. She grasped the straps of the vest and pressed her forehead to the rough material, breathing in deeply as the pain started to fade in waves. Ward.

She remembered being pulled into the aircraft by Coulson and Simmons, remembered Romanoff clambering in seconds after them, heading to the front to co-piolet. She remembered resting her head on Ward's lap as Simmons ripped her shirt up, attaching sensors to her chest, immediately beginning to run tests. She remembered seeing a tear leak out of Coulson's eye before she finally succumbed to unconsciousness.

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><p><strong>Let me know your thoughts on this chapter!<strong>


	18. Chapter 18: Skye

**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything since I last updated. Except for the occasional OC**

**Bundles of love to my favoriters/followers and of course the reviewers~**

**trytoreachout123: This keep s me sane until the second season begins too! I try hard to make sure the characters are…well, in character so thanks! Also, I heard from ComicCon interviews that Ward will be returning for the next season. Eeee!**

**Lightningtiger2: I'm really happy that you're hooked! Thanks for supporting me and this fic!**

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><p>Coulson yelled. Simmons cried. Trip hovered and May comforted. Romanoff disappeared with the promise that she would be back once she had spoken to some of her contacts. Fitz sulked although Skye suspected that it had more to do with the fact that Trip was spending a lot of time in the lab with a certain biochemist.<p>

And Ward. Ward hadn't spoken to her the entire time. His mouth uttered no words as they flew back to the Bus, his lips remained pursed while Skye was inspected by Simmons and when the biochemist pronounced her patient stable and healthy for the time being, he left the lab silently, unescorted, back to the Cage.

That had stung. It brought Skye back to the time when she'd been asked to see Coulson after she had slept with Miles and Ward hadn't accompanied her, declaring himself "off the clock."

But Coulson didn't leave her side and May departed only to pilot the plane. Fitzsimmons gathered around their computers and tablets, speaking in low tones. Trip stayed off to the side, ready to fetch or do anything he was asked. No one spoke of what had transpired in Hong Kong. They didn't need to- Romanoff had relayed the events and words spoken to the team before she left with only a vague word of return.

Once Simmons was satisfied that Skye was fully rested and Coulson could bear to let her out of his sight, Skye walked tentatively up to the Cage and opened the door. A chair was lying on its side some ways away from the table and Ward was pacing along the wall behind the table. He looked agitated; his hair was tousled like he had been running his hands through it multiple times. Skye cleared her throat to announce her arrival. He looked up, his expression suddenly blank. Then he crossed the room in a few swift steps and pulled Skye into his arms, burying his face into her neck.

She wrapped her arms tightly around him, "are you angry?"

He choked a laugh out, pulling her closer to him, "Angry doesn't begin to describe it. I'm _furious_." He said, his words muffled by her hair.

"I did have Romanoff with me-." Skye tried to reason.

"I don't care." Ward said his voice rumbling in his chest. He pulled away just enough so he could look into her eyes, "You didn't have me."

Skye sighed, looking away, "Would you have come if I asked?"

"If I couldn't talk you out of it. Skye, I just want to protect you- I don't appreciate you running off on me like that to a different country without so much as a warning! I was so worried…we didn't know what was going to be waiting for you in Hong Kong."

"Yes, but I'm fine!"

"Your previous screams of pain begged to differ." Ward pointed out, backing away from her.

Skye could sense a fight brewing and she sighed, dropping her hands to her side, "Fine, next time when I go to meet my uncle you can be my date."

"I just don't like not being there to protect you." Ward admitted quietly.

"Ward," She turned his face to his, "I'm okay," She said firmly, "Besides, I'm a monster, not a damsel in distress, remember?" He nodded and pressed his lips to hers.

"So you're not upset anymore?" She asked, pulling away for air.

He grinned down at her, "Oh, I'm still angry," he claimed her lips again, "I'm just channeling it into something more productive,"

Skye's laugh turned into a gasp as he bent to kiss her neck, "And the chair?"

"You weren't here," Ward pushed aside the collar of her shirt to nip at the point where her shoulder met her neck and pushed her backwards onto the bed.

Unable to hide her smile, Skye pulled him down on top of her and kissed him sweetly, "I didn't loop the feed,"

Ward shrugged, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "It's not like they don't already know that we're doing it."

"So Coulson's got a former Rising Tide member and an ex-Hydra agent doing his dirty work for him now?" The SHIELD agent shook his head, "unbelievable."

"Well you can bring that up with him right now if you'd like," Skye said, just short of a snap. Ward placed a cuffed hand on her shoulder both comforting her and preventing her from lashing out at the agent in front of them.

The agent just regarded the pair coolly, "You know what? I think I will."

Skye bristled slightly, "Allow us to escort you back to the Bus then." It was their fourth SHIELD recovery op, or as Skye had fondly dubbed it, the Secret Lovers, which only applied when they had to go undercover in a Hydra dominated base. This time was only the second SHIELD secured base the came across since they started, making them 2 for 2.

The first SHIELD base they encountered had given them a warm welcome so this agent's less than pleased attitude upon seeing them did nothing to bolster Skye's spirits.

"Agent Coulson,"

"Agent Delmore. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Coulson came down the stairs to the cargo hold as soon as the trio entered the Bus. The two agents shook hands but the frown on Agent Delmore's face didn't fade.

"I understand that you and your…team… are attempting to recover as many bases as possible?"

Skye scowled, "We've already recovered three, all by ourselves." She pointed out and Coulson shot her a look.

"Skye, will you please tell Agent May to run diagnostics on the plane? Also, if you could ask Agent Triplett to join us down here, that would be great." Coulson requested diplomatically but Skye couldn't help feeling like she had just been dismissed from the adults' table for being too noisy.

"Yessir." Skye unlocked Ward's cuffs and started up the staircase. "You coming?" She asked Ward when he didn't follow right away. He looked to Coulson.

"Sir?"

"I'd actually like Agent Ward to stay," Coulson interjected and Skye huffed, ignoring Ward's apologetic look.

"Whatever,"

Passing by Triplett on the way to the cockpit, she said sarcastically, "Your presences is required downstairs." He looked up questioningly at her sour tone but she swept past him without another word.

The instant Skye sank down into the co-pilot seat next to May, the senior agent asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Skye said unconvincingly, "Why are you still up here?"

"Running diagnostics like Coulson must've just asked. You're upset." May surmised and Skye looked at her, frustrated but not because of her companion.

"It's Delmore. He seems so ungrateful and…stuck up like someone actually took a stick and shoved it-,"

May shifter in her seat to face Skye more fully, "That's not all. You're usually very easy going but there's something else bothering you other than one agent's demeanor."

Skye sighed, "You're right. It's… I feel stuck. I know we're doing our best to rebuild SHIELD but it seems like we're not making a big enough difference. What if the aliens come back tomorrow and attack Earth? There's no way we're going to be prepared for that. I feel like the rest of the world has given up hope on us. On top of that, Romanoff hasn't come back yet and I have more questions about myself after Hong Kong and Ward needs to come out of that damn Cage so we can-!"

May cut her an amused look, "Sexually frustrated?"

Skye was taken aback, "Okay, let's back up and pretend that Ward never came up in this conversation because I do not want to get on that subject with his ex…sleeping…partner."

"So why did you come to me instead of Simmons like you usually do?"

"I thought she needed some time alone with Fitz and I thought you would understand a bit more. Not just about Ward. Yeah, I'm going to stop bringing him up now."

May smiled and bent over the dashboard to inspect the panels, "So you didn't just come up here to hide?"

"Isn't that what you've been doing?" Skye countered, fiddling with a lever in front of her.

"Don't touch that. I thought Coulson would prefer to handle the situation without Warm and Fuzzy."

Skye laughed dryly, drawing her hands back onto her lap, "well, Fuzzy's done there anyway."

May raised her eyebrows, "So I'm Warm?"

Skye shrugged and leaned back in her chair, "Mm, yeah, I can see why you like it up here,"

"It's usually very quiet and peaceful," the senior agent said pointedly but Skye ignored her.

"I haven't seen you doing your tai-chi lately," She commented, looking sideways at May who was still checking the numerous gauges and monitors.

"You've been sleeping better lately,"

Skye looked away. That was only partially true. She had been sleeping fine until a few nights ago when she dreamed that Ward and her father had teamed up and forced her to join Hydra, unleashing her power to kill Coulson and the rest of SHIELD. Then Fury showed up but was shot by Ward who then ran off with Maria Hill…

Skye hadn't actually seen her father in Hong Kong before she passed out but in her dream, he was a bulky man, all muscles and covered in a red substance that could only be blood. Skye didn't get a good look at his face but she was sure it was as awful as the sight of his body.

"Skye?" May's concerned voice brought her out of her reverie, "What are you thinking about?"

"My father." The hacktivist whispered, turning back to May. The senior agent's face was worried, "I think it would be a good idea to forget about all that. It sounds like you pose no danger so why look into it more?"

"But-,"

"I know it's what you always wanted, to find your family, but this would be better for everyone. For you and the team. What you put us through-," May's voice faltered and Skye remember the tear that rolled down Coulson's face, thought about the tense feeling in the air while she lay recovering in the lab.

May smiled sadly, "it's going to be hard to move on but sometimes, you just have to. For the sake of everyone else." There was a raw note in her voice and Skye knew May was drawing on her own personal experiences, specifically the one that earned her the name "the Cavalry."

Skye was silent, just let the flow of unspoken words pass between them as it had when she used to join May in the early mornings while she did her tai chi. They sat like that until Fitz came to summon them to a team meeting in the Command Center.

The rest of the team was already assembled around the table screen when Skye and May entered the glass encased area. Trip was pulling up photos and building plans from a flashdrive placed in one corner of the table.

"What's up?" Skye asked, taking her place next to Ward.

"Agent Delmore just notified us of a confirmed Hydra base just over the border in France. Some of its SHIELD occupants fled to his base when Hydra took over the other base. They have reason to believe that Hydra is keeping the remaining SHIELD agents captive."

"We're going in?" May asked, inspecting a blueprint on the screen.

Coulson nodded, "Delmore's providing extraction and back0up but we'll be making initial contract. Our agents are much better equipped." He said with a note of pride.

Skye smiled inwardly, "How big is the base?"

"People-wise, big. Physical size, medium."

Skye suddenly remembered the flashdrive she had used at the last two Hydra-run facilities and pulled it out of her pocket, placing it on another corner of the screen, splitting the screen into two.

"I collected data from some Hydra hard drives but I wasn't too particular with what files I copied so there could be some stuff here that we can use. Here," Skye found a file that matched the description of their target base and let out a low whistle as she skimmed over the intel, "Wow, they devoted a lot of manpower to this place…"

"It means they're getting confident. They know they are in a good place in the world to come out of the shadows and congregate." Ward spoke up, his brow furrowed in concentration, arms folded. Skye took a moment to appreciate his defined muscles before turning back to the screen.

"Should we be taking on a base this big right now?" Trip asked, rubbing his jaw as he looked over the screen.

"Yes, exactly how much back up will be provided?" Simmons added, swiping through satellite images, her expression tense.

"We'll have the element of surprise. If they're this confident, then they must think SHIELD is done for." May mused and Coulson agreed.

"This would be a big win for us, a big step up the ladder. Delmore is in contact with the local government and they've agreed to help with the imprisonment of Hydra until we decide what to do with them."

Trip frowned down at the screen, "they're got a lot of firepower there. I'm not sure it would be wise…the risk factor is too high."

"We took down Cybertek with just the four of us and some vintage gadgets," Skye argued,

"That was a facility full of civilians. We're talking field agents here, trained operatives that won't fall for a bomb threat." Ward responded, his voice tight.

"The Hub, then. We took on the Hub." Skye retaliated but Ward shook his head before anyone else could talk.

"That wasn't even the real thing. The people in this base? They won't even hesitate to demolish any signs of SHIELD." He snapped. Skye glared up at him and he stared back angrily.

Then Fitz spoke up, "It won't matter how many people are in there because we have back up this time and as soon as we get into the system and disarm it, we can mess them up enough so they get disoriented and lose control just long enough to get Delmore's men and the French troops inside. Then the base is ours."

"It's not that easy, Fitz," Ward said through gritted teeth, turning away from Skye to place both hands on the table.

"It can be. A couple of well-placed explosions and they won't know what hit them. We go in, shut everything down, separate them and ambush them." Coulson decided, "If we're going to go about rebuilding such a big organization then there's always going to be risks involved."

Simmons piped up reassuringly, "Perhaps Agent Romanoff will be back by the time we strike,"

"Let's not count on that," May advised but not unkindly.

"It's settled, I'll get started talking to Agent Delmore. Fitzsimmons and Skye, I want you guys to find out everything you can about that base, down to what kind of soft drinks they carry. Ward, I want profiles on everyone you can get, Triplett, May, with me."

Ward spoke up, not looking at Skye, "In that case, sire, I'd like to request that Skye stays behind with Fitzsimmions to monitor and help with communications. Also, I think it would be a good idea to keep a few men around to make sure no one sneaks out of the base to ambush them."

Skye gaped up at him. What was he playing at?

Coulson scrutinized Ward who looked evenly back at him and determinedly not at Skye.

"Noted." Coulson said after a few seconds.

"_What_? No, I want to go in with you! AC, you know I'd be more useful on the premises running the hack directly and controlling things from there!" Skye exclaimed but it looked like Coulson had already made up his mind.

"It is just as important for us to have you behind the scenes watching out for us where you can see everything." Coulson pointed out.

Skye snorted, "No way. You think I'm a liability. The hacking process will go a lot faster if I'm the one there doing it, in person." Skye looked to Trip for support but he looked away guiltily.

However, May came to her rescue, "Skye has a point, she would be more effective on the ground."

"I'll think about it." Coulson beckoned May and Trip, signaling that the meeting was over.

Fitzsimmons disappeared out of the Command Center after them, chattering about weapons and the flashdrives, leaving Ward and Skye alone.

"I better go get a copy of that flashdrive so I can get started on the profiles," Ward said, following Fitzsimmons.

"Ward, wait." Skye called after him, walking quickly to catch up with his long strides.

"Ward!" She caught up with him before he reached the door to the balcony and grabbed the back of his shirt to spin him around to face her. She looked up at him, her expression fierce.

"What the hell was that back there? We've had this conversation already, I'm not a damsel in distress! I can handle combat. I've trained hard for this, you saw me at Cybertek, I'm not a liability!" She snapped. She saw his eyes darken and suddenly he pushed her up against the wall, pinning her with his deliciously firm body, hands on braced on either side of her head. She looked defiantly back up at him as he looked down at her, his eyes dark and his jaw clenched, his breaths coming fast as he tried to contain his emotions.

"I don't want you there with us because it's too dangerous." He growled, his face mere inches from hers so she could feel his breath tickling her lips, "Once we get in there, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to look after you even if you say you don't need looking after."

Skye splayed a hand across his chest, feeling his heart beat erratically, "I'll be fine-,"

"No." He curled his right hand into a fist, his muscles flexing beside her face, "I won't be able to concentrate knowing you're in there, exposed-,"

Unable to contain herself, Skye placed her other hand on the back of his neck and jerked him down to her lips, giving him a hard kiss, dragging her teeth over his lower lip as she pulled away.

"Skye," He begged, his voice breaking, "I can't risk losing you-,"

She cradled his cheek in her hand and moved her other hand to his waist, pulling him flush against her body as she kissed him again, more roughly.

"Do you trust me?" She breathed, running a thumb over his sharp cheekbone.

He leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes, "With my life." His hands left the wall to skim down her side.

Skye kissed the corner of his mouth gently, "Then trust me with mine."

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><p><strong>I think you all know what to do with that box down there ;)<strong>

**Btdubs does anyone else thing that the song "Something I Need" by OneRepublic could describe Ward's feelings about Skye?**


	19. Chapter 19: Ward

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or Agents of SHIELD**

**Special thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited!**

**Warning- some mild language**

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><p>"Checkmate,"<p>

Ward sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes, "I can't believe you just sacrificed your castle like that.

"You're just bitter because you fell for it," Fitz jeered, crunching his pretzels in the most annoying way possible. Ward just sighed again and looked away, unwilling to submit to the engineer's taunts.

Fitz stood, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think that I'll go do maintenance on the weapons that I designed and you'll be using in a couple of days," He said proudly, strutting away. Ward bit back a laugh shaking his head as he swept the chess pieces back into the box.

"You let him win," A new voice hissed as a slender body dropped down into Fitz's vacated seat across from Ward.

"Relax, Simmons, what he doesn't know won't hurt him." Ward soothed but the English woman was not easily calmed.

"It doesn't matter! You can't keep giving him that false sense of security!"

Ward looked up at her, "There's nothing wrong with that. The guy just needs some confidence to help him regain his cognitive skill."

Simmons shook her head, "He can't keep thinking that his cognitive functions are back to normal or he will stop pushing himself."

"Give him time and it will return to normal. Nothing's going to happen if he remains frustrated and unconfident." Ward replied impatiently.

"Oh, so you're the doctor now?" Simmons fumed and Ward pressed his lips together. Simmons rarely got worked up at anyone but Fitz but lately, she had only gotten worked up about Fitz's condition and couldn't really take it out on him, so she made Ward her new verbal punching bag whenever she got frustrated. He supposed he did deserve it after all. What happened to Fitz was his fault.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Skye asked as she approached them, still in her tank and shorts from training.

"Nothing." Simmons forced a smile, "I better go check up on Fitz." She left quickly and Ward finished packing up the chess set."

Skye sank down on the seat next to Ward, "What was that all about?"

"Nothing," He echoed Simmons, walking to the cabinet to put away the game.

"Ward…"

He returned to the couch, leaning over and stealing a kiss from her, "I've got it under control."

"Not that you would say otherwise," She mumbled from around his mouth. She pulled away to take a long sip from her bottle of water.

Coulson had finally allowed Ward to spend a few hours of the day outside of the Cage to train, collect profiles of Hydra agents and go over the plan with the rest of the team. If he got done early, he was allowed free time as long as he still wore the "house arrest" bracelet. Ward wasn't sure what it prevented him from doing and he had no intention of finding out.

"So what do you want to do?" He asked Skye.

"Take a shower. Sorry, but I'm all sweaty. But I think Trip's looking for someone to spar with. He's still down in the cargo hold." Skye got up but Ward pulled her down again so he could slip in another kiss.

"Are you going to come visit me tonight?" He asked, winding his fingers through her tresses.

She laughed and kissed his temple before pulling away, "Awh, are you scared of the monsters under your bed?" She slipped out of his grasp and sauntered off to her bunk.

"You still worried about Skye?" Trip panted, dodging Ward's upwards hook.

"Aren't you?" Ward grabbed Trip's arm and flipped him onto his back but Trip's leg shot out and caught Ward behind the knees.

"Not really. The girl can handle herself. Don't worry, I've kept up with her training." Trip said, straightening up, bumping fists with Ward before resuming their spar.

Ward grimaced, "it's not that. She's….too gentle. Hesitant to hurt people. She sees the good in everyone."

Trip swung and Ward blocked, "You're saying she's naïve?"

"No. Too eager to believe that no one is truly evil."

It was Trip's turn to grimace, "She's changed, man. After you… She's more focused, Harder. More distant and doubtful. I hate to say it man, but you've taught her that some people really are evil."

Ward found himself on his back with the other specialist standing over him. Ward took the hand offered to him and jumped up.

"She says it's the job but…"

"It's me." Ward said, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Triplett clapped him on the back, handing him a towel, "It's for the better," He said, "either way, it'll help with the job. She hasn't changed drastically; it's more like she…matured."

"Hey, Antoine, man." Ward said suddenly, looking straight into Garrett's other protégé's face, "Tthanks for taking on her training and… replacing me on the team."

Triplett glanced sideways at him and laughed, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't replace no one. I'm just an add on, bonus feature. No one can replace you."

"All the same-,"

"Don't worry about it, Golden Boy, it's my pleasure." Trip said good naturedly. Ward saw his eyes flick in the direction of the lab for the fifth time since he had arrived down there.

"She's great, isn't she?" Ward said casually and Trip turned sheepishly back to him.

Ward slung the towel over the railing and began to roll up the mats, "Not to discourage you, but Fitz did call dibs."

"Although in the end, it is Simmons' decision to make," a very female voice said from the balcony and the two specialists looked up to see Skye, hair still damp, leaning over the edge to look down at them.

"How long have you been standing there?" Trip asked suspiciously.

"I just got here," she reassured them and Ward noticed that she didn't specify.

He began to climb the stairs, "I should go shower and continue my prison sentence. Thanks for the workout," He called down to Triplett who saluted him.

The next two days were filled with last minute plan changes, checking and rechecking their weapons and equipment and run-throughs. Fitzsimmons spent the entire day cooped up in the lab and Coulson and Trip were constantly going back and forth between the Bus and Delmore's base to check in on their troops and update them on any plan changes. Skye was glued to her laptop 24/7 with the exception of when she was going over combat maneuvers with either Ward or Triplett. May and Ward spent the majority of their time monitoring the comings and goings of the agents at the Hydra base through outside cameras. The night before the raid, Coulson called the team together for one last run-through before dismissing them to their bunks to catch a few hours' rest before setting out in the early hours of the morning.

Before allowing himself to drift off, Ward ran through the plan in his head. Satisfied that he was prepared, he rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes. Before he could actually fall asleep however, the door to the Cage opened, bathing the dark room in warm light before the door was shut quickly.

"Hey, scoot over," Skye whispered and Ward opened his eyes a slit and groaned, complying.

"What are you doing? We're supposed to be sleeping."

He felt Skye slip under the sheets," That's what I came here to do. Why do you always think I want to have sex with you?"

"I- Jesus, why are your feet so cold?" He pulled his legs as far away from hers as the cot would allow but she only snuggled closer.

"I walked barefoot over here."

"Barefoot?" He raised an eyebrow and she frowned back at him.

"Of course, I don't wear shoes to bed. Now, shhh time to sleep." She put a finger to his lips.

He grumbled, "That's what I was trying to do before you came in."

Skye rolled onto her back, "I thought you liked me coming in here."

Ward just sighed and threw an arm around her, wincing slightly as her cold toes touched his ankles, "Also, for the record, I still don't like the idea of you going in with us-,"

Skye ran her cold feet up his legs and he shut up.

"May, get Skye to the control room now! Fitzsimmons, what's going on? They knew we were coming!" Coulson yelled into his comms unit. Him, Ward, May, Triplett and Skye ducked as another explosion sounded overhead, bringing more dust and flakes of wall and ceiling onto them.

"It looks like there was a mole in Agent Delmore's people! She shot Delmore and she's disappeared, sir!" Fitz said anguished.

"Damn. Well, there's nothing we can do about her now. Is Agent Delmore okay?" Coulson asked. Ward cracked open the door to the closet they were hiding in.

"Clear!" He ushered May and Skye through the door. Skye caught his eye and gave him a small comforting smile and he nodded tensely, grabbing her wrist and squeezing it briefly before letting her go, his stomach in knots. He rarely ever got this nervous during missions but then again, he rarely ever had this much to lose.

"May and Skye, you're clear but hurry! Delmore should be okay, the bullet went clean through." Simmons' voice was high, the way it was whenever she was under a certain amount of strain.

Trip turned to Coulson, alarmed, "I thought they were armed with ICERs?"

"Clearly, they ditched those for actual guns. They're ruthless. ICERs won't always do the job for them." Ward said, checking his magazine yet again, "Either way, the plan remains the same- don't get shot."

"We're in."

Ward let out a breath at the sound of May's voice.

"It's going to take me a couple minutes to shut down they system. I'm also retrieving files- screw it, I'll just take the whole hard drive." Skye rattled off.

The men waited in baited breaths for Skye's next word.

"There's a group of ten headed your way, sir, and they're throwing open doors. They know you're in there and they want to find you," Fitz warned.

"May, you've got a couple men coming towards you. Sounds like they're trying to radio the guards that were in the control room." Simmons chirped.

Coulson turned to Ward, "What's your take?"

Ward glanced around at their surroundings, taking in the spacious closet, "We take them in here. Get behind the shelf and be ready to push, sir. Trip, I want you buy the door. The second the last guy gets in here, slam it shut."

Coulson and Triplett nodded, taking their designated places. Ward stood with his back to the wall opposite to the door, ICER drawn.

The door burst open and the soldiers flooded in, shouting at Ward, their attention focused solely on him. Ward flicked his eyes to Coulson and suddenly, the shelf was falling over, burying five men underneath its heavy frame and contents. Trip and Ward made quick work of the rest of the group.

"Coulson!" Simmons shouted, her voice panicked at the same time Skye swore loudly into comms.

"Bad news, I accidentally activated a trigger in their system so if they don't already know I'm here, well, they do now." The hacktivist yelled.

"Please tell me there isn't an automatic lock down procedure that's been triggered also-," Coulson said, but Skye sighed, frustrated.

"I'm working against it now but it's going to take time-,"

"Fitzsimmons call in back up!" Coulson ordered, then turning to his specialists, "we need to get to May and Skye now-,"

Ward couldn't agree more.

"Back-up's three minutes out. There's been a delay because of Delmore."

"Shit. That gives them ten minutes to fully infiltrate the base." Triplett muttered, kicking a nearby soldier that was beginning to stir.

Fitz called to them urgently, his accent thick, "You'd better go to Control now, it looks like there's a platoon of soldiers closing in on your location-,"

Ward flung open the door, taking out a few random soldiers lingering in the hallway before beckoning his team and racing down the hallway. Thankfully, they reached Skye and May without encountering more than a couple of soldiers on their way.

"Jesus," Trip breathed upon arriving at control. May had bound close to eight control room agents together in the far corner while the floor was littered with soldiers bearing the blue markings of dendrotoxins.

Ward raked his eyes over Skye, looking for any sign of injury. Thankfully, he found none.

"How long?" Coulson panted and Skye looked up from her computer screen for a split second.

"Three minutes to fight off this program, two to shut down the system."

May glanced around the room, "we don't have that much time. I say we abort."

Coulson shook his head, "No, if we leave now then we might not be able to make it out."

Ward agreed, "We need this win." All eyes turned to focus on him, even Skye's.

Finally Trip spoke up, "We're too far in to go back. We stay and fight this out."

"Fitz, are the explosives rigged and ready to blow?"

The engineer responded immediately, "Ready whenever you are."

May sighed, accepting the final decsions, "The moment you see a significant inflow of soldiers, take them out, Fitz."

"No! That's murder, you can't just blow them up-," Skye argued but May silenced her with a glare.

"It's us or it's them and I'd much rather it be us."

"Brace yourselves-," Simmons warned and Ward and Trip ran out to meet the first soldiers that straggled into the corridor.

Five more men arrived in the hallway and May came out to join them.

"Anytime now, Fitz!" Ward yelled, bringing a man's head down onto his knee before grabbing an CIER and incapacitating two more men.

"Hold on, that's strange… Simmons, do you see this?"

Ward saw Triplett throw a man over his shoulder the same way he had been thrown just a couple of days ago during their sparring session. Trip cast Ward a look, complete with a small somber shake of his head.

"Fitz, now! Blow those explosives NOW!" Ward yelled. They weren't going to last much longer with this many soldiers coming in at them.

"Activating in three, two-,"

Ward threw a guy in front of him, using him as a shield before dropping to the ground, covering his head.

"-One!"

A deafening roar filled the hallway as the ground shook violently. Ward felt pieces of plaster and ceiling fall on his back. Rolling away, he quickly got up but was met by a punch in the face, followed by a sharp kick to his ribs. He bent over double, clutching the tender spot where he repeatedly kept getting injured. He sustained another blow to the head before his attacker was suddenly thrown backward. Keeping a hand over his ribs, he looked up to see his assailant on the ground, tendrils of blue crawling along his jaw and neck. Ward glanced over his shoulder to see Skye still holding the ICER straight away from her body with both hands, panting slightly. Her eyes met his and she nodded slightly before dropping the gun and resuming her work on the computer. Most of the men were out cold and Trip and May were dragging them off to the side. Both had cuts and fresh bruises peppering their exposed skin but looked otherwise unharmed. Coulson was bent over Skye's chair, watching her progress over her shoulder.

"We're in," Skye announced, "shutting down the system now and beginning ambush phase one."

"Good." May wiped blood off the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, "Fitzsimmons you got that?"

Silence.

"Fitz?" Ward tried but the silence over their comms dragged on. He turned to Coulson, his concern reflected in the Director's face.

"They're missing a car. It must have disappeared between the time when we first got here and now, AC-."

"I'll go," Ward said immediately. He saw doubt cross Coulson and May's faces and hurried to convince them, "I'm faster than Trip and May needs to be here,"

"Coulson," Skye prompted urgently and the Director nodded reluctantly.

"Hurry."

Ward nodded, "Yes sir." He knew Coulson was taking a big risk, a blind leap of faith placing everyone and everything at risk while an ex-Hydra agent that he didn't fully trust raced out of his sight to save the other half of Coulson's team.

"You better go quick before more come," Trip warned, throwing him an extra CIER and set of car keys he plucked from a fallen soldier.

Ward nodded again, caught the gun and keys and ran. Getting out of the bunker was relatively easy since most of the doors had been sealed off, trapping Hydra agents behind them. Back up was already streaking in, taking care of any extra agents that avoided the lock-in.

The drive took him a long four minutes, driving as fast as the borrowed vehicle would go to a clearing in the woods that housed the surveillance van. The first thing he saw were the bodies of SHIELD agents assigned to make sure this exact thing wouldn't happen to Fitzsimmons. Not stopping to see if the bodies were dead or just unconscious, Ward proceeded slowly around the van, taking out the Hydra agents standing lookout with a silenced gunshot.

Then he rapped on the back door of the van and one side opened, "Almost done, Ralph-," Ward grabbed the man's outstretched arm and pulled him out of the car, giving him a good blow to the head on the way down.

"Stop."

Ward looked up, locking his eyes first on Fitz, who was gagged and tied up in a corner, then on Simmons who was being held at gunpoint.

"Easy," Ward holstered his ICER, holding up both hands. The man turned to point his gun directly at the center of Ward's forehead while pushing Simmons away from him. She caught herself against the screens position on the wall of the van.

"Work." The man barked and Simmons gulped, beginning to swipe and tap on the screens.

"What's going on?" Ward asked evenly, looking back at the man. Simmons covered a whimper with one hand over her mouth.

"Just a little counter surveillance… among other things." The man replied maliciously.

In one swift move, Ward disarmed the man and flipped him over his shoulder onto the ground next to his partner, shooting him in the head for good measure.

"You really shouldn't keep your arm outstretched like that," Ward quipped.

"Ward," Simmons' voice was pained and he whipped around to see what caused her tone. She looked at him, her eyes wide, finger pointed to Fitz. Ward let his eyes travel over the engineer. He wasn't just gagged and tied up. He was tied up to a bomb.

"Son of a bitch," Ward whispered, "Detonator?"

"On him," Simmons said shakily, looking at the man Ward had just wrestled out of the van, "Oh, god…"

Ward looked at her sternly, "I need you to go get it. Be very gently." He climbed into the van and reached to Fitz's mouth to remove the tape but stopped when he saw the wires protruding out of it.

Simmons handed Ward the detonator and he instructed her to get comms back up and running while her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

"What I do best," He muttered, placing his ICER on the table next to Simmons. Then he pulled out his trusty kit and pocketknife from a pocket in his cargo pants and set to work on Fitz."

"You're an engineer. You know what to do. Or, in this case, what not to do."

It took Ward close to three minutes to fully disarm the bomb. By then, Simmons had already updated the team about their situation.

"All done, it's completely disarmed. I'm going to take the tap off you now," He reached for the duct tape but Fitz's eyes widened and he gave a muffled shout. Ward heard Simmons' shriek and the last thing he felt was a sharp blow to the back of his head before everything turned black.

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><p><strong>Hate to be a tease but I have special plans for the next chapter… Thanks again for reading and review please!<strong>


	20. Chapter 20: Ward (Flashback)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or Agents of SHIELD… Some line/scenes are taken from various episodes in season one **

**Thanks to plainmnmemy and Guest for reviewing along with:**

**Lightningtiger2- I thought Ward and Trip needed some bro time and Ward is most definitely irreplaceable!**

**Trytoreachout123- I totally agree with you about Fitzsimmons, couldn't have put it better myself!**

**And eventually shadow375 when you get to this point in the story- hope you're still reading and enjoying!**

**In honor of us reaching the 20****th**** chapter (Ee!) and just because I really wanted to write something like this, this chapter is a little different from the other chapters but I hope you like it nevertheless.**

****This chapter is rated M for some sexual content and language that might not really fall under T**

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><p>"You need to calm down, not get worked up," Simmons said deliberately and Ward felt his temper flare at her words. Nevertheless, he placed his hands on the Holotable and drew in a breath, trying to channel his emotions.<p>

Until Skye leaned in and whispered, "The memory, was it about your brother?"

"Drop it." Ward said curtly, giving her a steely look. Couldn't she see he was trying to get it under control, trying to push it all away?

"Ward." She never broke her gaze, "If you need to get it out, I am here." She emphasized the last part.

He felt his anger bubble up again and let it flow past his defenses, "Right, to talk. Because that's what you do, talk. And talk. Don't you ever get tired of_ hearing your own voice?" _ He moved closer to her, threateningly. She could never keep to herself, could she? Always trying to help, always moving that mouth of hers as if it could get her out of every situation.

Maybe that was why he liked her so much.

"Well this makes much more sense now!" Simmons blurted as Ward stopped himself from punching Fitz for touching his shoulder.

"Ward, what you're experiencing, this feeling, is chemistry." Simmons explained as if it solved everything. Ward looked at Skye, his heart beating even faster and despite his earlier words about never panicking, he started to a little. He had denied his feelings for her for as long as possible but he couldn't argue with the facts of science. That whatever he felt for Skye, this _chemistry_, was there. And once Fitzsimmons and god forbid, Skye, found that out, everything would go to shit.

Skye's eyes were still wary as she said, "I hope so,"

Ward's heart jumped unnaturally. Could she feel it too? Was her expression softening because she wanted him as much as he wanted her? Simmons rambled on and Ward shut his face down, breaking eye contact with Skye to look at the biochemist. No matter what she felt, it didn't matter. To hell with his own feelings too. He was on a mission.

Then Skye looked away from him, hurt written all over her face for a few precious seconds, looking everywhere but him and he felt himself get upset again.

"Does everything just…roll off your back?"

"No. If it helped, I'd rage all the time but it doesn't." She said casually and Ward looked down, contemplating her words. She was so wise sometimes, so elegant with the way she viewed things.

He started slowly, "What I saw… it was about my brother,"

She turned her lips up in a sad smile, "I figured," Her voice… it was so gently and understanding. So full of emotion. He needed someone like her in his life.

"I know you're not one to talk," She placed a small hand on his wrist and he looked down as he felt her light touch send a longing feeling to the pit of his stomach that made him want to sit her on the bar and make love to her until the last of the Berserker rage fled from his body.

"…My shoulder's free."

He looked up and met her gaze after clearing his head. He held her gaze for a few heartbeats, the feeling returning, wondering what could have been…

Then he looked away before he could succumb to his deepest desires, making up the excuse that he was tired. He had to stop this before it got too dangerous. Before he felt too much. As he pulled away from her soft touch, he could feel his rejection poisoning the air between them.

"Another time, maybe." He amended, _when I'm not Hydra and when I can afford to care for someone else._

"You know where I live," She said, the mood lightening and he snuck one last glance at her before leaving the bar. One last night where he would allow himself to imagine what could have happened if there was no such thing as a mission.

The next time he allowed himself to feel for her was when she got shot. Hadn't he explicitly told Garret that she was off fucking limits? He had asked for one thing. One thing! And now… now, she was dying and for what? Why did Garrett let this happen?

After he had given himself that moment to rage, he pulled himself together and tried to mend his relationship with May. She had seen his reaction to Skye's shooting and he couldn't afford for her to think that it wasn't because he was Skye's SO. A job he had taken on not only because it strengthened his cover with his team but because he hoped that when the time came-and it would- she could be able to defend herself against him.

He sat by her bedside whenever he could- which wasn't often because Coulson was always there. Once he heard she was awake, it took him everything he had to not go sprinting down to her makeshift hospital pod. When he finally did go to see her, it was worth the wait.

"I must look terrible! Simmons won't even bring me a mirror," She ran her hands over her face and smiled at him.

"I've seen worse," He replied, _you look gorgeous._

She smiled again, somewhat grudgingly, "Wow, thanks,"

"Yeah, well, I mean you look better than when you were dying," He said hastily.

"Swingin' and miss em, Ward." Skye smirked down at her hands and he grinned like an idiot. God, he missed her.

"It's great to see you," He said sincerely. She would never know how great.

Then Skye began to rag on herself and lament over Mike Peterson and he couldn't stand it. She shouldn't feel bad about what had happened; she was an innocent person that got caught in the crossfire of something she should be far, far away from.

"He needs help," Skye said compassionately but Ward cut her off.

"He's past help." _Like me_. Ward told her Peterson should've protected her but he knew there was no way Deathlok would have been able to do that. Ward was just upset he couldn't have foreseen what was going to happen and stop it. _He was the one who should have protected her._

After Lorelei and after she was cleared from the med pod, all he wanted to do was push her up against the wall and kiss her senseless.

When she kissed him in the closet at the Hub, it was the single best feeling he had ever experienced in his life. It was that kiss he thought of before he pulled the trigger on Agent Hand, crossing the line for good. To say that he didn't look back would've been a lie. He did, every night when he was alone and out of the watchful eyes of John Garrett. Because after Garrett had been made, all he wanted to do was pull her into a secluded room and fuck her against the wall until the world fell away and it was just him and Skye until it became time for him to emerge as the biggest traitor ever known. When he arrived at Providence and saw her standing at the entrance waiting for him, his heart tore a little. She was so beautiful, so pure and he was there to play her and corrupt her. As soon as his lips met hers in Eric's office, he felt his heart clench and tear a little more.

He knew she _knew_ the second she came up to him from behind while he was standing at the doorway or the pantry. But again, he pushed it down, denying everything.

After Ward pulled her into his arms in Fitzsimmons' lab, his heart cracked into two, held together by the thinnest, most delicate strand.

Seeing her drive away from him at the café shattered his heart so it was with great desperation that he told her that she would understand someday. Her rejection just about destroyed whatever was left of him.

The second he found out she called Garrett he wanted to bolt to wherever she was and see for himself that she was alive, in one piece, then pick her up off her feet and crush his mouth to hers like he had always wanted to.

Maybe if he hadn't rejected her all those times before…hadn't denied those feelings before now…but all he was trying to do was protect her. It was all her ever wanted to do.

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><p>She was there when he woke up, holding his hand, smiling gently down at him.<p>

"It's great to see you," He whispered through his throbbing headache and she laughed a little, relief flooding her doe like eyes.

"It's great to see you too,"

This woman, who had single-handedly torn apart his world, was helping him build it right back up, making it stronger, better.

And right now, he wouldn't have it any other way.

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><p><strong>What do you think? Too mushy?<strong>

**Thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU to everyone who continues to support me and this story! Regardless of whether you follow, favorite-d , reviewed or just simply read, I appreciate you all! (And don't worry, this isn't the end)**


	21. Chapter 21: Skye

**Disclaimer: Same as usual**

**Just wanted to say a very special thanks to trytoreachout123 for always leaving me great reviews!**

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><p>They lost one man while Hydra buried five bodies. As much as Skye was upset about the lost lives, she let it go the best she could. They were at war and sometimes, they just had to do what needed to be done. Delmore was expected to make a full recovery, along with Ward who had suffered a couple cracked ribs and a mild concussion. The rest of Coulson's team came out with only minor injuries and much to Skye's chagrin, Coulson decided that they would stay in Europe at Delmore's Belgium base until he was well enough to run the newly recovered base in France. The mole had yet to be found and Skye knew Ward was anxious that Delmore's shooter would report that Ward was out of prison and working under the orders of SHIELD. He didn't want to discontinue their undercover exploits into mysterious SHIELD and Hydra bases.<p>

Meanwhile, Skye was stuck running errands for Delmore himself, fetching this person, bringing him that file. She fulfilled her duties with a mildly sarcastic tone; even though he had apologized for doubting her abilities and loyalties, Skye still harbored resentment for the agent, especially now that she was being treated as his personal secretary. She guessed that Delmore thought he was being magnanimous by giving her these tasks, by allowing her to "serve" under him but rather than feeling grateful she was feeling mutinous. He acted as though Skye should be contented but she couldn't help but feel as if she was being shoved down with Delmore waving his authority all over her. He was the type of man that had made Skye hate men in suits.

Skye was sure that Fitzsimmons and Ward, who Simmons had restricted to bed rest, were having a good laugh together while she bolted everywhere to make sure Delmore was comfortable and placated. When the hacktivist wasn't busy with Delmore, she was with Coulson at the French bunker, sifting through Hydra files and setting up the new systems.

By the time she finished her tasks for the day, it was late into the night and Ward was usually asleep by the time she got to his infirmary room. Besides not seeing Ward, Skye often missed Triplett and May who were tasked with redrawing the French base's security and structure. Fitzsimmons were often absent tending to whatever things they were asked to do. Skye hadn't run into them since the time that Ward woke up after receiving the nasty blow to his head.

One time, however, Skye was asked to retrieve a doctor and after she had relayed Delmore's summons, she snuck into Ward's room. Fitzsimmons were nowhere to be found and Ward was propped awkwardly against his pillows, reading his copy of _Matterhorn._

"Hey," She whispered, closing the door softly behind her as if a loud noise would bring work back down upon her and draw her away.

Ward looked up, wincing slightly, "Hi, can you help me-?" He shifted slightly and sucked in a breath sharply.

Skye rolled her eyes, only a little affronted, "First Delmore, now you."

"What?" He leaned forward so that she could adjust his pillows into a more comfortable position.

Ignoring him, she teased, "I thought you masked your pain for beautiful women."

Ward offered her a small smile, "Sometimes I just need beautiful women to know that I need taking care of."

Skye perched on the edge of his bed, her heart swelling when he admitted that he needed taking care of. She cupped her cheek with one hand, running her thumb over his sharp cheekbone and he leaned into her touch, his eyes gazing into hers.

Then he had to ruin the moment by saying, "So did Delmore already confess his feelings for you? Before I did?"

Skye huffed and pulled her hand away, "He might as well have. I'll be expecting a big fat Christmas card from him come holiday season. I'm practically his slave! 'Thanks Skye for running around the building to tell my secretary that I want to set up a meeting, something that I could just as easily have paged her to do. Oh, also, can you fetch me some new towels? These are too fluffy.' I mean, how can towels be too fluffy? Don't answer that," Skye added severely, seeing Ward open his mouth. He closed it quickly, eyes twinkling.

Skye crossed her legs, propped her chin up with the palms of her hand, "So how long are you confined to this bed?"

Ward reached out, almost unconsciously and touched the ends of her hair, "Simmons thinks one more week and after that, I can move about as I wish as long as I don't engage in any rapid activity, aka training and missions."

"Awh, what's Robot going to do? All your firm muscles will become un-firm." Skye mocked, giving his abdomen a hard poke. Which didn't give. At all.

"Ouch," She muttered as her finger glanced off what felt like rock, "You were flexing." She complained.

"Was not," Ward defended, one side of his lips turning up.

There was a soft knock on the door and it cracked open to reveal a timid looking nurse, "Agent Skye?"

The hacktivist sighed as Ward pulled his fingers from her hair and she turned her head to look at the interrupter.

"Yes?"

"Agent Delmore is requesting you."

Skye resisted from rolling her eyes and she told the nurse that she would be right there. Turning back to Ward, she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"The master calls. I'd better go see if he needs me to readjust that crooked painting in his room."

Ward looked at her suspiciously, "You wouldn't happen to know how that painting became crooked in the first place, would you?"

Skye slid off his bed with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You'll come visit soon?" He called after her and she flashed him a smile.

"Count on it."

Before she left the room, she gave the framed painting opposite his bed a small nudge to the right.

The nurse hurried up to her, "Should he be handcuffed?" She whispered worriedly to Skye.

"Are you handcuffed?" Skye asked back, not unkindly.

The nurse was taken aback, "I-no, but-,"

"Then neither should he. Be handcuffed. If you aren't- nevermind. Just let Agent Simmons handle his case from now on, okay?" Skye said quickly before speeding up to see what Delmore wanted.

By the time Skye had finished all her assignments for Delmore and Coulson and returned across the border to Belgium to see Ward, he was fast asleep. Not wanting to wake him, she simply straightened the painting that was still hanging slightly to the right to let him know she had been there to see him. Anything else would wake up the specialist. But as she opened the door to slip through, she heard the sheets rustle and Ward murmured something intelligible. Skye turned, expecting to see him awake but his eyes remained closed and his hands clenched into fists while his head twitched to the side.

"Ward?" She whispered and his head twitched again. Skye looked at his heart monitor and saw that it was spiking abnormally and his brain activity had sped up. She contemplated going to get a doctor but a jumble of words left Ward's lips and she decided just to go to him, nearly tripping over a table leg in the process. It was only by the dim lighting that she saw that he was sweating and his eyes were moving under his eyelids.

He was dreaming. It wasn't all that weird, Skye just never gave much thought to the fact that the robotic specialist dreamed.

She pushed his damp hair off his forehead gently. Without the gel his dark brown locks were soft and fell loosely over his face, giving him a more youthful look.

"Ward," She whispered again, attempting to wake him, "Grant."

She traced a finger down his face as his head twitched again and said louder, more deliberately, "_Grant._"

He woke with a gasp, muscles flexing as he tensed for a second. A shadow fell over his face when he saw Skye and she backed up a little, wary. Even though she was sure he wouldn't hurt her intentionally, there was no telling what he would do when he was caught off guard or out of control. Grant Ward was a dangerous man.

Then the shadow lifted as his eyes lingered on Skye and confusion settled in.

"Skye? What's going on?" He tried to sit up but Skye moved faster, putting her hand on his shoulder to keep him down.

"Hey, whoa, relax, I just came in and…" Skye paused searching his face, "Were you having a nightmare?"

Ward slumped back against his pillows and covered his face with a hand briefly.

Skye didn't try to hide her concern, "I know you'd rather compartmentalize than have sharing time but-,"

Ward looked at her, his expression so disheartened that it crushed Skye, "It was about you."

The breath in Skye rushed out of her in a whoosh, "Oh," She said in a small voice, surprised that he confessed and by what he had confessed.

He continued to look deeply and desperately into her eyes and Skye was reminded of another time when he had looked so defeated, his emotions seeping through his walls, raw and uncontained. Not of the time when he had cuffed her to the stairs and begged her to understand but of the time when she had found him emerging from the flashback that the Berserker staff had sent him into.

"Don't leave."

Skye brushed his hair off his forehead again, "I'll stay until you fall asleep-,"

"No, Don't leave again like you did with Romanoff."

She touched her lips to his fleetingly, then pulled away and rearranged his pillows behind his head, twining her hand into his and laying her head on his shoulder.

"Sleep," was all she told him. After all, she never liked to give promises she couldn't keep.

Skye stumbled- literally- into May and Coulson on her way back to her room in the impossibly early hours of the morning. She had fallen asleep with Ward but had woken up suddenly five minutes ago, cold and the worst crick in her neck so she decided to return to her own bed to catch a few hours more of rest before the day started again.

"It's way too early for tai chi," She told May who scowled at her. The senior agent had a supportive hand on Coulson who was blinking confusedly as if he had just been dragged out of bed.

"Take Coulson back to his room," May instructed guiding the Director into Skye's hands.

Skye was startled by May's short tone. She hadn't been harsh to the hacktivist in a really long time.

Someone hasn't had their coffee yet," Skye remarked wryly.

"Now. And quickly, no one can see him out of bed in this state." May said, glancing around them surreptitiously.

"May, what is going on?" Skye asked, rubbing her neck. While falling asleep at the side of Ward's sickbed was romantic, the after effects on her back and neck were anything but.

"Skye," May's clipped tone now had a warning to it and Skye obliged, taking hold of the dazed Director. Besides, the sooner she got the oddly silent Coulson to bed, the sooner she could go lie in a proper bed.

She called after May's retreating figure, "I'm expecting answers later!"

"Make sure he stays in bed. He has an odd habit of wandering out of it." Was all May responded with.

Getting Coulson back into bed and making sure he intended to stay there was easy. He fell asleep almost immediately and on the way to her own room, Skye saw Fitzsimmons chattering away at the door next to Skye's which led to Simmons' room.

"Hey, what're you guys so intrigued about at this ungodly hour of the morning?" Skye asked, pausing at the threshold of her room.

"Dreams." Simmons told her, seemingly unsurprised to see Skye awake.

Fitz leaned around Simmons to look at Skye, "I suppose you heard…?"

The hacktivist stifled a yawn, "About Ward? Yeah, I know, weird, right? I never thought that a robot would have dreams…"

The scientists exchanged looks, "Ward?" They asked in unison.

Fitz shook his head, "No, no, about-,"

Simmons shot the engineer a look that Skye didn't miss, "Fitz," She warned and whispered urgently to him while Skye looked on and cocked an eyebrow.

"Guys? I'm right here you know."

Simmons turned back to Skye, a false expression of interest on her face, "What about Ward?"

Skye waved a hand dismissively, "He was having a nightmare." She walked closer to the scientists, "Wait, is this about Coulson? Because if it is, I just brought him back to his room and he looked totally out of it."

When Fitzsimmons didn't answer, Skye huffed and crossed her arms, "Guys, I deserve to know,"

"And you will," Simmons said firmly, "but right now, you look dreadfully tired."

"Yes, you'd better get some sleep and we'll tell you later. Once you're fully rested," Fitz chipped in, taking Skye's arm and guiding her into her room.

Simmons followed closely, nearly pushing Skye into her bed. Skye felt a pinch as Simmons' nail dug momentarily into her skin, "We'll let you know if anything comes up, Now, Fitz and I have to go, May's expecting us- sleep tight-," the biochemist threw the blankets over Skye and Fitz closed the door behind them. Skye made to get out of bed to follow them but before she could lift her legs off the bed, her head hit the pillow and she fell fast asleep.

"She hasn't…"

"….Been watching her…."

"…Sleep? But dreams…"

"…Impossible!"

"Shhh…"

"If Coulson…"

Skye inched closer but her toes caught the sensor at the door and the doors to Fitzsimmons' lab on the Bus slid up.

"Shit," She whispered, closing her eyes and berating herself silently.

Turning around, she walked casually into the lab, "Hey guys, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Oh, hello, Skye, I trust you slept well?" Simmons asked brightly as May and Fitz turned away from the Holotable to look at the hacktivist.

"Uh, yeah, I did," Skye replied, "I have a bit of a headache though." She noted and she saw Simmons' smile twitch as the biochemist's eyes cut to the engineer's who looked slightly guilty.

"That's interesting. Are you still tired? Dizzy?" Fitz asked, leaning against the Holotable and folding is arms across his chest.

Skye looked suspiciously between the scientists as they smiled at her, "No dizziness…why would I be feeling dizzy?"

"Uh, no reason." Fitz cleared his throat and lowered his examining eyes to the floor and May turned her head to give him a look.

Skye turned to May, "Why are you guys all on the Bus? Shouldn't you be in France right now?"

May looked back at Skye, her face unreadable, "We're just running some diagnostics on the plane."

"Oh, does that mean we're leaving soon?" Skye asked, thoroughly unconvinced. Simmons just kept smiling at her, although it was beginning to seem a little more forced and Fitz stared determinedly at a fixed spot over Skye's shoulder and May replied smoothly,

"Just a routine check-up."

Skye sighed and pulled up a stool next to the Holotable, "Come on, guys, I know I'm not super agents like you are, but give me some credit! I'm at least a better liar than Fitzsimmons. What were you guys talking about? What's wrong with Coulson?"

May sighed and turned to the scientists, "We really need to work on your deception skills."

"Skye," Simmons glanced nervously to May who didn't give any indication of whether she should continue or stop, "Have you been… sleepwalking recently?"

"_Sleepwalking_? That's what this is about? That happens to like, a ton of people." Skye said, slightly disappointed. She was expecting something a little more dramatic.

"Not just sleepwalking. Have you been seeing strange patterns in your mind or have your hands been drawing without your control?" Fitz asked, leaning in.

Skye turned slowly to May, trusting her to give a straight answer, "Is this about my alien ethnicity -background?"

May's expression was level, "It's about GH-325. We're trying to see if you're experiencing the same phenomenon that Coulson is."

"And what would that be?"

Simmons left the lab and walked quickly to the back, returning a minute later with a slab of what looked like…

Skye's eyes widened and she looked from the immense slab to her fellow teammates, "Is that a piece of wall from the base?"

"See, we couldn't find out how to get rid of the scratches on the wall quickly enough, and no one can know…not even Coulson, so-,"

"So you cut out a wall?"

"It was the quickest way. It's only one layer, just the plaster. We can say it was just an accidental explosion from one of your experiments." May replied, helping Simmons lay the slab on the Holotable.

Fitz looked at her indignantly, "My experiments don't explode."

May gave him a look as if to say, _think about it._ And Fitz turned away, muttering under his breath.

The hacktivist hovered over the expanse of circles and connected lines, "Okay, so cool pattern, but unless Coulson carved this out with his laser eyes," but Simmons left suddenly again, calling Fitz after her to help.

"I was lucky I found Coulson before he got too far or before a patrol came his way. When I pulled him away, he had no idea what had happened and we've agreed that we should keep him in the dark until we figure out just what this is." May said in undertones as they waited for Fitzsimmons to return.

When they did return, they were balancing one of the lab doors that had to be replaced after they retook the Bus from Hydra. On the door was etched a similar pattern as the wall, only more complete.

"Garrett." Simmons said in explanation, "Ward told me,"

"He knows?" Skye looked up, dread filling her if Garrett also exhibited this behavior…

Simmons shook her head, "I only asked him about this when I visited a couple months ago. Apparently Garrett drew this after he was injected with some hybrid of GH-325 that Raina concocted."

"Well I don't think that I've done this before. I mean, I spend most of my nights with Ward and he would know if I left. Wait, this is the same pattern as the one from Akela Amador's case, isn't it?" Skye asked, realization dawning on her.

"Yes, Simmons and I have been looking everywhere for what this might be, but we haven't found anything, even with May's clearance. There's a possibility that it could be classified up to level eight, but we don't want anyone else to know, that's why we're on the Bus. We're only telling you because you had a different reaction to the drug than Coulson so you might know-,"

"What about me? Did you guys start a meeting without your Director?" Coulson stood smiling at the doors to the lab. He squinted at the Holotable, "What's that you got there?"

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><p><strong>Heyy guys! So two things (kind of irrelevant):<strong>

**1.****I finally saw Guardians of the Galaxy and now I understand the hype about Groot!**

**2.****Who else is super psyched that Brett Dalton won TCA's Male Breakout Star?**

**Review please =)**


	22. Chapter 22: Skye

**Disclaimer: I own not anything**

**You guys will never understand how much your reviews and favorites and follows mean to me. You guys are the best!**

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><p>Simmons practically threw herself over the Holotable while May walked to Coulson, effectively blocking his view while Fitz sidled in front of the Holotable to hide even of the wall and door that bore the curious markings.<p>

"What's going on?" Coulson repeated.

Skye blurted, "It's a surprise," the same time Fitz exclaimed,

"Just some research," Fitz glared at Skye and Skye glared back as Simmons slowly slid the piece of wall off the Holotable and May spoke in low, reassuring tones to Coulson.

"Fitz, help me." Simmons said in a strained voice as she struggled to lift the detached lab door and carry the wall at the same time.

"Wait," Coulson called out, looking around May but Trip rushed up the cargo hold.

"Director Coulson!" He called, a look of urgency written all over his face.

"What's the matter, Agent Triplett?" Coulson turned to look at a slightly breathless Trip.

"Damn, I knew I shouldn't have eaten all those chips," He muttered to himself, passing a hand over his chest before looking back up at Coulson, "They found the mole, sir. The one that shot Agent Delmore." Trip's eyes traveled over the rest of the team curiously but held his questions, focusing back on Coulson.

Skye turned to Fitzsimmons who stood frozen, about to life the lab door, "Does Trip know?" She whispered.

Simmons shook her head mutely.

Fitz let out a breath as Coulson turned to follow Trip out, "That was lucky."

"Let's not have to depend on luck again," May said briskly as she walked back to them. Skye saw Coulson look over his shoulder before breaking into a light job away from the Bus.

"Hide those well. Skye, you'd better come with me." May instructed, "We'll continue this later."

They ran into Ward on their way to Delmore's room. He was being escorted by a nervous looking soldier who looked the same height as Skye. Needless to say, Ward made the scrawny soldier look like a pipsqueak. It didn't help that the soldier looked fresh out of the Academy and was positively trembling at the presence of Ward.

"Oh my god, should you even be out of bed?" Skye asked concerned, giving him a once over. He was out of his hospital gown and in sweats and a plain white tshirt but was unmistakably steady on his feet.

"Oh, yeah. The doctors cleared it, just as long as I don't do anything damaging to my health, like 'attack another human being'." Ward clapped the soldier on his back, and the boy squeaked and jumped involuntarily, "I was just telling Dan here about my Academy days."

"Did they ask you to interrogate the mole?" May asked, turning her amused gaze away from the soldier. Her voice was neutral but Skye sense a note of disbelief.

"In a way,"

Skye continued walking, taking the place next to Ward hoping the poor boy's nerves would ease at the increased proximity from Ward but the soldier only looked at May with wide eyes. Perhaps not as scared as before, but definitely in a different sort of excitement, like he had just met Mickey Mouse at Disneyworld rather than encountering Lord Voldemort.

Skye mumbled to Ward, "I hope he doesn't pee his pants in his excitement."

Ward glanced over his shoulder, and scratched his head, "I thought he was in SciOps at first. I don't remember them making them this small. It's actually kind of cute. He's all twitchy and shit." Ward breathed back, a smile tugging on his lips and Skye gave him a _be nice_ look.

Pushing open the door to Delmore's hospital room, her jaw nearly dropped. In her absence, the entire space had been converted into something of a situation room. Delmore most definitely went too far with this one. All the original furniture had been pushed out, replaced by tables and computers. A large screen was hanging on the wall, showing a map of Eastern Europe, pulsating dots scattered all over. The only thing that gave a clue as to the room's original purpose was a hospital bed in the center, Delmore reclining in a near upright position in it. Men in identical black suits were crammed into the room, all wearing headsets or holding tablets and phones.

"What the hell?" Skye looked behind her to see May's similar reaction to the sight in front of them. No way this was all for the person who shot Delmore.

Triplett squeezed out from behind two especially burly men. Skye had not expected him to be wearing a suit, and her expectations were true. He was clad in his typical black jacket, dark shirt and jeans.

"They're just finishing a situation that came up early this morning. Interrogation will be in this next room, here-," Trip let May, Skye and Ward down the hall as the soldier scurried to report back to his CO. Trip threw open the door to a much less cluttered room. In the center was a large monitor, similar to the one at Providence and the Playground.

"A lie detector." Skye stated, looking around the room for the chair that the subject would sit in but she didn't find one.

"The plan is to sit her in the prison cell and monitor her vitals from there." Coulson explained as he walked into the room.

"You won't need this," Ward said but not disrespectfully.

"Nevertheless, if it makes Delmore feel better about himself then so be it. Now, Ward's going to go in and get the story out of her and whatever else she might be hiding, like an interrogation, only undercover. We already know what she did and most likely why but we need some confirmation and to make sure there isn't anyone else she's working with."

Skye let out a low whistle, "Undercover interrogation? That's pretty hardcore."

"Think you can handle it?" Trip challenged Ward, smirking a little and Ward smirked back.

"Highest marks in espionage since Romanoff, remember?" He bantered, pointing at himself with exaggerated pride. Then a sticky silence fell over the group as they remembered just how capably Grant Ward was at the art of deception.

Skye cleared her throat, "So how exactly will we be monitoring her vitals?"

Coulson picked up the shift in subject quickly, "Fitzsimmons has a device, speak of the devil," He said as the door opened and the biochemist and engineer trotted in, Fitz holding a miniscule device between his thumb and finger.

"Bloody brilliant," He whispered and Skye was unsure whether he was talking to himself or for the benefit of t everyone else.

Ward leaned closer to Fitz, "Back to us, Fitz,"

Fitz's eyes left the device and he seemed to fully register his audience, "Right. So this beauty here, once attached to the subject's skin, will release many other little monitors to attach to various other points of the subject, including her heart, pulse point, you get the idea."

"It's very unnoticeable, really. You can see it if you know to look for it, but on your own body, you can't feel a thing. It will feel more like a little itch while it adjusts to your body's temperature and skin tone-,"

"Then which it will camouflage nicely. Now, it's only a prototype so there's no telling how long it will last, so be quick." Fitz explained and Ward gave him a look at the last part of the engineer's instructions.

"Of course, you'll be brilliant in there so you don't need telling-," Fitz muttered but Coulson cut him off.

"The guards will place this on her as they search her." Fitz handed the device over to Coulson and him and Ward left through the door. After a while, Ward appeared on the screen clothed in a familiar gray jumpsuit stained with dried blood and dirt. On his arms were a few new cuts but they looked a few days old and a bruise bloomed on his cheek.

Trip brought a newly acquired radio to his lips, "Cameras are up and live," He said as the screen slowly split into five different shots, all from different angles.

Skye turned to Fitzsimmons, bewildered, more concerned with how Ward looked rather than how they were looking at him "How…?"

Simmons smiled rather proudly, "A new formula in the testing phase. It works rather well, don't you think? Those cuts probably weren't that deep, but look at how fast it healed already!"

Skye raised her eyebrows, impressed, "And the bruise? Is that real?"

"Of course not. Simmons would never let anyone punch a concussion patient in the face. It's just make up," Fitz said as if it was obvious.

Coulson reentered the room with Delmore who was now in a wheelchair and a few other agents.

Trip talked into his radio, "We're ready."

"There are cameras hidden in one of the bars of the cell," Fitz whispered to Skye, eager not to have his own contributions overlooked "Extra small edition, made with my own bare hands."

A woman entered the room, pushed in by a guard. Ward had arranged himself in a dark corner of the square cell, blending into the shadows.

"Make yourself comfortable while we find you a cell." The guard said gruffly before clanging the door shut.

Skye turned to Fitz, "Won't she see the cameras though?" She asked quietly.

Fitz shook his head, "They're disguised to just look like specks of dirt. They're so small that an average human's naked eye can't detect them, especially since they're place in such dark and high places."

"Madge Hayden." A file was shoved into Skye's hands by the agent standing to her left. She flipped it open and scanned it quickly. The first page consisted of a mugshot and basic information. Madge Hayden was fairly average looking, not necessarily pretty, but her features were striking, bold. She was in her early thirties, level 6. The next page showed her psych profile- she was ambitious, ostentatiously so. She had grown up with her aunt and uncle in D.C., her parents and older sister abandoned her when she was young. Ian Quinn's words about SHIELD's recruiting of people without families and friends came flooding back to Skye but she pushed that thought away. Now was not the time to think about that. Especially with Jemma Simmons standing a couple feet away, who, Skye knew, was very close with her parents. Turning the page, Skye skimmed through Madge's accomplishments in the field. They were impressive but nothing that was particularly attention getting. Her work was consistent which was strange, given that she was reported to be ambitious. Perhaps it was for the sake of her cover…

Skye looked up at the mole and saw that she was pacing back and forth at the front of the cell. Evidently, she had yet to notice Ward sitting quietly in the corner. Until he spoke up, alerting her of his presence.

"So you're the one they were dying to catch," Ward drawled from the shadows and Madge spun around to face him, seemingly unnerved by the fact that he had been there the whole time. She didn't seem to be that good of an operative now.

"What's it to you?" Madge spat, pausing in her pacing. She looked as though she was waiting for something or someone and somehow, Skye had the feeling that it wasn't the guards.

Ward only leaned forward slightly, allowing some light to hit is face. Madge looked at him for a few seconds, then, recognition seeping into her face, she barked a laugh.

"Clearly, you're not as good as they say you are if you're in here too,"

Ward smiled easily, charmingly, "Maybe's it's my intention to be here." He gestured to the bench next to Madge, "Please, don't stand on my account. Get comfortable, you'll be in here a while."

She watched Madge narrow her eyes but she took a seat. Skye pushed the file in Fitz's direction and he and Simmons bent over it.

"He knows what he's doing?" Delmore asked Coulson abruptly, doubt heavily lacing his words. Skye stiffened but refused to look over at them, instead, keeping her eyes on the screen as she waited for Coulson's answer.

"Of course," Coulson's voice had a hard edge to it. Skye knew he disliked it when others questioned his and his agents' actions and abilities repeatedly, especially after they had just taken down an entire Hydra compound. Frankly, Delmore was walking the line, questioning the Director of SHIELD's judgment.

"So it's true, then? You actually infiltrated Coulson's team and they didn't suspect a thing?" Skye would tell Madge was trying to appear unimpressed but there was no hiding the sprinkle of awe in her voice. Ward only smiled leisurely as his head lolled against the wall.

"What can I saw? I didn't earn the nickname 'Golden Boy' by sitting around and kissing Alexander Pierce's toes. Besides, they were begging to be deceived. The undead hero from the Battle of New York and his pitiable little team, trying to be more than what they really were." Ward finished disdainfully.

Simmons gave a little gasp and Fitz whispered bracingly, "He doesn't mean it, it's all just for show."

Again, Skye wasn't sure for whom those words were intended for, but she clung on to them like a lifeline.

"But how did you do it? You don't look like the kind of person they'd recruit for that sort of thing." Madge ran her eyes boldly over Ward. Skye was sorry to have to admit that there was a certain appeal at the way Ward looked in his otherwise unflattering jumpsuit. His build stood out through the typically loose gray fabric and his stubble brought out his sharp facial features, half bathed in shadows making him look as cunning and fatal as ever. How did he do it? Clean shaven, Ward was the picturesque successful CEO or movie star, straight off the cover of fucking GQ magazine but add some bad lighting and some facial hair and he could be an assassin for the secret police. Maybe it was the way he held himself in each situation…?

Skye was so busy pondering Ward's appearances that she nearly missed his next words.

"I'm everyone's type."

Oh god. Oh dear god. The way he said it- cocky and low and so goddamn seductive…that was enough for her to flush and make her suppress a shiver. It was so wrong for this version of Ward to turn her on (then again, any version of Ward was sexy) but there she was, trying to control her desire in a room full of senior agents and Fitzsimmons and Coulson.

Then he had to make matters worse by letting his gaze sweep around the cell, lingering for a moment on a camera, as if he knew what Skye was feeling, as if he knew what kinds of things his words were doing to her. And he was totally fucking enjoying it. She was going to kill that slick little bastard the second he got out. They were working and yet he managed to find a way to get the job done as well as make her feel a pool of warmth between her legs.

Gripping her arm, Skye bit back a groan and forced herself to concentrate as Madge asked again why Ward was locked up.

"Let's just say you're job's done but mine's just beginning."

The woman leaned forward, her eyes hungry, "What are you going to do?"

Ward chuckled but there was no amusement there, "Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry-? I have done everything I was asked to do! I've been in this hellhole biding my time until they were ready to take over this base, until I had the opportunity, the means-,"

Ward laughed mirthlessly again, clapping his hands slowly, sarcastically, "Good job, give yourself a pat on the back. You shot Delmore and you made your escape. Except, wait, you didn't kill him, SHIELD took over the French base instead of Hydra taking Belgium and you exposed yourself to everyone, including both the French and Belgium governments. It's no wonder you ended back up here in cuffs."

Madge opened her mouth to protest but Ward held up a hand. Seconds later, Skye saw the shadows of two guards as they passed by the cell.

A minute later, Ward spoke again, "I supposed you expected someone to finish the job for you? To break you out?"

"Is that not what Boone and Sherwood were placed here to do?"

_Bingo._ Skye looked triumphantly to Delmore. Who was it that doubted Ward's ability to reveal everything? An agent had already pulled out a phone and was dialing into it, holding it up to his ear and relaying orders into it.

"You fool." Ward said quietly, sneering, "Their orders were not to assist you. There were placed here to keep an eye on you, to make sure you carried out your task. If you failed, they weren't going to help you. If you failed, which you did, that's on you."

Skye turned to the rest of the room, interpreting Ward's message to them. She told the rest of the room quickly, "They'll be coming for her and Delmore now."

Coulson nodded, agreeing, "Hydra takes care of their own." The agent rattled off new orders into his phone and Coulson turned back to Skye. She knew from the look of his face that he was thinking what she was.

_Hydra takes care of their own but SHIELD never did._

"It will now," Coulson said, for her ears only and she nodded, turning back to the screen to see Madge breaking down, betrayal closing down her features for a few seconds. Then she began to scream at Ward, who kept his flippant expression. Before Madge could reach Ward, guards came bearing down on their cell, one pushing Madge against the bars as the other gripped Ward's arm, leading him out of the cell. Despite everything, Skye's feelings went out to the woman as Madge struggled to throw herself at Ward, freeing an arm to claw at him as a guard took him away.

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><p><strong>Review please~<strong>


	23. Chapter 23: Ward

**Disclaimer: You know I don't own anything**

**Great big thanks to everyone who continues to support me and this story! **

**I couldn't leave the "I'm everyone's type," line out- it was too precious! I'm glad you guys like it~**

**Also, s/o to icewitch73 for reviewing almost every single chapter =O**

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><p>Back in his shirt and sweats, Ward walked down the hallway, gloriously unaccompanied. Although he was glad of it, he couldn't help but feel a little scornful of how easily SHIELD gave second chances. Of course, he still received looks from other occupants of the base, but they never actually did anything other than watch him from a careful distance.<p>

"Sir," Ward greeted Coulson as people filtered out of the room where they had been watching Ward "interrogate" Hayden. Coulson only nodded in greeting before beginning to walk away.

"Uh, actually, sir, for the record, what I said about you guys, you know that I didn't mean it, right? You guys are…" Ward paused, searching for words to describe how he felt about the team but none came.

To his surprise, Coulson clapped him on the back as the Director walked past, "Poop with a little knife sticking out of it."

Ward turned in confusion, "Sir?"

Coulson smiled wryly, "The other comment that came with the one about your excellence in espionage. Your people skills, remember?"

Ward let out a breath of laughter, "Right,"

Coulson studied him for a second, "I know. Someday, you'll be able to get those words out. For now, Skye's waiting for you in there." He gestured at the room he had just vacated then turned to leave.

"…Thanks, sir." Ward replied a little too late, too caught up with what Coulson had said to realize that the Director had already left. Ward paused just outside the door, preparing himself for whatever lay waiting for him on the other side. Concluding that she was most likely angry at him for his snide remarks about the team, he slowly pushed the door open, increasing the amount of time before he had to face a ticking time bomb that he probably couldn't disarm.

She was standing with her back to him, flipping through what looked to be a file. Her stature looked unnaturally stiff and straight and Ward was sure that she was furious.

"Don't kill me, I can explain-," He started, but Skye whipped around at the sound of his voice and before he knew what was happening, she had crossed the room to him and snaked her arms around his body and was pulling him down for a deep kiss. Shocked for only a second, he took her in his arms and kissed her back with just as much passion and need. Her tongue flicked in and out between his lips and he groaned, walking them forward until her back was pressed lightly against the wall.

He knew he should be questioning her actions but this unexpected welcome was too good to pass up. Running his hands through her silky locks, he slid his hands down her back and around to rest on her waist as he placed kisses along her jaw and down onto her precious neck.

Her hands were fisted in his hair, "When you were in there- shit, Ward," She breathed as he licked and nibbled the junction between her neck and shoulder.

"All that in there was just a ruse…" He soothed, his lips brushing her skin as he talked.

Her fingers clenched, pulling lightly at his hair as he pulled away her shirt to trace kisses along her shoulder, "No, not that," She moaned. Skye was clearly trying to keep up the conversation but Ward was sure her hold on it was dissolving quickly as he tasted her luxurious skin.

Then he grinned into her bare shoulder, realization dawning on him, "Are you secretly attracted to dark and evil Hydra agents?"

"No. Just you," She forced his head up so her lips could meet his again in a more carnal kiss than before. He laughed into her mouth but that quickly turned into a hiss that he couldn't contain when she pulled him closer still and her hand brushed against his tender ribcage.

She pulled away, concern and the tiniest bit of disappointment in her face and Ward groaned again. He was more than willing to ignore the pain so he could finally be with her but clearly, she wasn't going to let that happen.

"You should be in bed," She said, her hand hovering over his injury.

Ward smiled roguishly, "Yes, I should," He ducked his head to kiss her but she turned her face away and he sighed, resting his forehead on the side of her face, inhaling the sweet aroma of her shampoo before he pulled away and stepped back.

"_Why_ are there always cameras present whenever we're together?" Skye muttered, staring down the offending piece of technology as she straightened her shirt. Ward just sighed again and ran his hand through his un-gelled hair.

"Let's get out of here." He held out his hand to Skye and she took it, allowing him to lead her out of the room.

"So how are the ribs?" She asked, lacing her fingers through his. Ward smiled inwardly at how perfectly her soft hands fit into his calloused ones. Well, she had the beginnings of callouses from all her weapons training but not the permanent kind that Ward possessed.

"Getting there. Simmons' remedies are working wonders but I'm only huma-," He stopped abruptly but Skye squeezed his hand gently.

"It's okay. I'm still in my human form too, remember?" She teased delicately.

Ward looked down at her and began uncertainly, "You know, we never really talked much about the whole, you know."

"You can say it Ward. You've said it before." Skye said lightly but her words packed a harder punch than her tone. Ward winced.

"Yeah, that's something else we haven't talked much about."

Skye stopped suddenly but Ward continued to walk a few steps forward until his felt his hand being tugged back to where she had stopped.

"I don't want to talk about those things now." She said decisively, then smiled cheekily up at him, "Besides, I rather like it when we're not fighting."

"Hey, no one ever said we would _fight_ about it-," But she cover his mouth with her free hand.

"I want to get that drink again. Properly, this time, not just like the time when you went all dark and I-want-to-get-in-your-pants-for-and-because-of-the-hard-drive. If you know what I mean." Skye wiggled her eyebrows and Ward just shook his head at the horrible innuendo, "And it has to be nice get-to-know you topics like we're normal people."

"Firstofall," He mumbled around her hand and she took it off his face, "That was a terrible innuendo. Second, we aren't normal people, Skye." _We're monsters. _

"That drink's going to have to wait." A brusque voice called out. The couple turned to see May standing at the end of the hallway, her hands folded neatly in front of her, "You better bring him," May added, giving Skye a meaningful look before turning on her heel.

Skye tugged at Ward's hand, leading him down the way that May came.

"What was all that about? You guys haven't perfected at way to speak to each other's minds have you?" Ward asked, puzzled.

Skye rolled her eyes before her expression turned grim, "You'll see. And it's called telepathy, Ward, and according to you guys, it's not real."

_You guys. As in SHIELD._

"Yeah, this is what I saw in Belarus. You said Coulson was drawing this earlier this morning?" Ward traced the circles with a light finger. They were on the Bus in the lab and Simmons had brought out the detached lab door and wall that had been adorned with the strange linkage of circles and lines and May had filled him in about their activities in the morning.

May nodded, looking deeply uneasy. She ran her eyes over the circles and lines again as if the more she looked at them, the more likely they would solve themselves.

"You're sure Skye never left during the night?" Simmons said in undertone, looking around to make sure Skye and Fitz hadn't returned yet from getting lunch for the five of them.

Ward examined the detached lab door, "I would've known, Simmons. I'm trained to be a light sleep and to wake up at the slightest disturbance." He said a little impatiently. Simmons withdrew a little, looking a little put off.

"But inbetween her coming to you-,"

"Yeah, this is what Garrett drew after he recovered from his episode," Ward interrupted loudly as he heard Skye and Fitz's approaching footsteps. He shot a warning glance at Simmons as she opened her mouth again, not picking up right away on his clue that they had company. Then he tilted his head in their direction and her eyes widened a little upon seeing the engineer and hacktivist bearing down on them, arms laden with food.

"Tell me again," Simmons asked, turning back to Ward, "What did Garrett saw when he was drawing this?"

Ward ran his fingers through his hair. He really needed to get his hands on some gel, "He said he was just jotting down some ideas."

"And you're _sure_ you've never seen this before?"

Ward gritted his teeth but tried to keep his expression as smooth as possible as he turned his head to the biochemist, "Simmons," He warned.

The English woman looked down, clamping her mouth shut.

"Okay, so who wants a sandwich and who wants a burrito?" Skye asked loudly, attempting to gloss over the tense moment.

Ward silently accepted the food Skye handed him and she shot him a look as if to say, _calm down, she's only trying to help._ He tore his eyes from her gaze. The truth was, he knew that Simmons only had good intentions but he didn't want to converse on this subject however crucial it was. It brought back a jumble of conflicting emotions.

The first time he had seen the markings was after Skye had first touched him. Sure, they had brushed skin before, during training and just casually like when they were passing objects to each other…but that time was different. It was unexpected and strangely _intimate_. Yes, he was ticklish but when her slender fingers brushed the back of his neck, it sent a jolt through him that had nothing to do with sensitive nerves. He had pushed it down into the recesses of his mind, along with topics that he couldn't and wouldn't ever let himself think about. They had a job to do and he desperately needed to control the sudden tightness in his pants. Somehow, the feeling of her fingers on his neck didn't want to stay in the deep dark corners of his mind and with Skye's voice in his ear, he was constantly reminded of how much he wanted her. Maybe that's what made him careless and look directly into the mirror but it was definitely why he brought up those two Ukrainian girls and a crazy night as a way to "bond" with the guard. Little did he know at that time that he was just beginning to fall for her.

The second time he saw the pattern was after Garrett had been injected with Raina's hybrid of the GH-325. Garrett had always possessed some radical notions but it was jarring to see his mentor so intent on things that Ward could barely even comprehend. The very last influential person in his life, the man that had taught Ward _everything_, who had been on the edge of death, teetering over, was bursting with renewed life but he had also been far gone by then.

"Skye, no! Don't put that there. Jemma does her _biology_ stuff there!" Fitz cried out, bringing Ward back into the present. He looked over to see Skye hastily removing an unopened bag of chips from a gleaming countertop. Simmons began to bemoan her partner's inability to cope with one of her professions and suddenly, looking around the lab area and cargo hold, Ward's throat became constricted and he began to sweat.

"Ward. You still with us?" May asked, scrutinizing him over her sandwich.

"Huh? Yeah, I just- I need…air." He finished lamely, dropping his sandwich back onto its foil wrapping and striding out through the cargo hold and into the hanger. Just a tiny figure next to an immense, aircraft, he was easily overlooked by the agents in the hanger. Walking a few paces away, Ward stopped near the wing of the plan and pinched his nose, resting his other hand on his hip. It never used to be this hard to bury his personal feelings and thoughts.

Then again, he never used to have Skye in his life.

"Ward," A hand rested briefly on his shoulder. The specialist looked down to see the curly haired Scotsman at his side.

"Skye said she's going to eat the rest of your food if you don't come back in soon."

Ward let out a breath that he had been holding in, looking out to the wide expanse of the hanger, "Let her. I'm not hungry anymore."

Fitz was quiet for a short while, joining Ward in looking out around at the other aircrafts. Then he said conversationally, "It's amazing how improved our technology is and yet, humans still have to do so much of the maintenance." Ward knew Fitz was allowing him a way out of explaining why he was out there but he knew that he couldn't run from it forever.

"I can't-," Ward's voice broke, but he forced himself to continue on dully, "I feel trapped in there, Fitz. It's nothing but memories in that place. I mean, I lost the only two people in my life that really ever matter to me in there. First Skye, then John-,"

Fitz interrupted, confused, "But Garrett-,"

Ward replied bitterly, "He was long gone before Coulson blew him to bits."

The men stood in silence for a little while longer and Fitz was the first one to speak again.

"Jemma reckons that it's human nature to let our memories and past experiences bog us down. She thinks that as humans, we're scared of change and moving forward into uncharted territories."

Ward gave him a sideways glance, knowing that Simmons' words applied to the engineer himself, "And you? What do you think?"

Fitz looked straight up at Ward, "I think it's human nature to flee from a fight but you always manage to get yourself right in the middle of combat anyway." He said seriously but Ward cracked a small smile.

"Only you run away from combat Fitz." Ward turned to walk back to the Bus and Fitz scrambled after him, calling out.

"Wait, wait what do you mean? There was that time in South Ossetia with the Overkill Device and at the Hub- at the Hub I shot a guy-!"

Later that night, after Ward had snuck into Skye's room, she rambled on about their conclusion that the strange markings were indeed a symptom of the miracle drug and the reason why Skye hadn't experience it was because she had some alien blood already running through her. The team had yet to find out the true source of the drug but Skye had told Ward what Coulson found at the bunker. Skye pondered aloud about the connection between Hydra, Cybertek, the Tahiti project and Fury whom they agreed not to tell about the development in Coulson's condition until they were sure how to receive some answers themselves from the former Director. Skye mused about whether the patterns were a code or language or equation or some kind of battle plan and Ward listened the whole time with only half a mind while he absentmindedly traced circles on her ankles.

When Skye had finally tired herself out after drifting briefly onto the topic of Madge Hayden, he held her to him as she fell asleep. But however close he pulled her to him, there still seemed to be a large yawning gap between them that he couldn't close by physical proximity.

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><p><strong>Okay, so I tentatively plan to wrap up this story before season two starts (Sept 23). I'm not sure if I'll end right before the 2.01 or if I'll just wrap it up earlier… Let me know what you guys thinkwant!**

**Review please~**


	24. Chapter 24: Skye-Ward

**Disclaimer: Nothing. I have nothing**

**Thanks to LJ717 and Guest for the reviews! **

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><p>Ever since Ward had been allowed out of the Cage he had been almost overly affectionate towards Skye; stealing kisses whenever they were left alone, finding reasons to touch her. Skye hadn't minded, to be quite honest, it had been quite refreshing to have Ward be so straightforward and relaxed about showing his feelings and really just interacting with another person on a personal level. More often than not, Skye found herself wondering how she ever caught the eye of such a gorgeous man. With his looks and physique, he could easily get any woman he wanted, the blonde, Victoria's Secret model type instead of a nerdy, young hacktivist. Well, if the part about him being a traitor and Hydra was ignored.<p>

Not that Skye was complaining, it was just unexpected, beyond her wildest dreams that her sexy, uptight SO would fall for her. Some days she pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, that this Adonis of man wasn't just a figment of her very extensive imagination. Deep down, she didn't expect their relationship to last very long, given who they both were, their differences and the whole situation in general. So, when Ward suddenly became withdrawn and distant, Skye told herself not to be surprised. Instead, she gave him his space. They saw each other every night when Ward came to sleep (Coulson didn't know whether to give him a cell or his own room when he was checked out of the infirmary so Ward continued to sleep in Skye's room to avoid the awkward situation). They would get ready for bed in silence, occasionally exchanging a few polite words (Skye had given up on trying to have a heartfelt conversation) then they would get into bed. Ward would throw an arm around her and she would move into his warm body but that was the extent of their personal contact. When she asked him why he was being so distant, he only denied it so she decided to let him sort through it on his own, hoping that soon, he would open up to her when he was ready.

At first, she had wondered if his emotional distance was due to the discovery of Coulson's midnight wanderings and the possibility that Skye could do the same, the reminder that she wasn't human, but she reminded herself that he was the one who told her about her background in the first place.

It hardly mattered anyway. They barely saw each other since Skye was always attending to Delmore's each and every need or traveling to France with Coulson to run things from there. Ward was apparently helping Trip and May or else sitting in as a consultant on whatever his ex-Hydra background could help with. It sounded like the other agents weren't too excited about the prospect of an ex-Hydra agent helping rebuild SHIELD but Fitz oftentimes accompanied Ward which boosted the general confidence. Plus, no one wanted to question Coulson's orders.

Finally the Director announced that they were ready to leave and let Delmore take hold of things now that he was able to get out of bed. Skye couldn't be more relieved and despite Fitzsimmons' amused looks, she packed up early and spent their last night in Belgium on the Bus. It was for the better- less Delmore exposure and it gave Ward some physical space to himself. She wasn't the only one excited to get out of the base. May also spent the night on the Bus, mostly for maintenance and pilot-y purposes.

When Skye slid open the door to her bunk she was expecting someone to already be out in the common area but what she wasn't expecting was for that someone to be a guy.

He sat with his back to her, a cup of coffee in one hand, his other arm stretched over the back of the couch he was sitting on. Skye abruptly stepped back into her room and slid the door shut noiselessly. Her breath quickened and she felt herself beginning to hyperventilate.

_No, Skye, now is not the time to freak out over a guy. _She told herself, forcing herself to calm down and open her door again. But she stood dumbstruck, staring at the same figure who was now lifting his cup to his lips to take a sip, making the muscles in his arm and back ripple. His hair was a light brown, cut close to his head in a timeless style and his shoulders were so broad, they'd make any girl swoon. His plain white tee was stretched over his torso, outlining his muscularity in a way that Ward's wouldn't, no matter how tight his shirt. It was so effortless, so _casual_ that there was no way he was just showing off, it was just the way it was, the way his body was structured.

He turned his head slightly to look around and Skye had to swallow a gasp. She compelled herself to walk forward and speak.

"Well, it most certainly is not every day a girl wakes up to a superhero sitting in front of her room."

So maybe we voice was a little higher than usual but she was rendered completely speechless when he turned to look at her. She probably swooned a little when he stood up to properly greet her.

"Steve Rogers, ma'am" He held out a hand for her to shake.

"I know. I'm Skye." She said a little breathily, letting the "ma'am" slide.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, "Just Skye?"

She nodded her lead, letting her eyes skim over his brawn, "Yeah, uh, just Skye." There was no way she was going to tell him about Mary Sue Poots.

Captain America only smiled as her eyes reached his again. Not a smirk, just nice polite smile.

"Uhm, I'm just going to-," She said quickly, gesturing towards the bathroom.

"Yes, of course."

It took Skye a moment before she could drag her feet away in the direction of the bathroom.

God, she was glad that she had changed out her pajamas before coming out.

…She really needed to pull herself together. She was a SHIELD agent now, a matured woman, not an awkward young adult that used to cosplay at the Stark Tower. She could handle men. Even if they were ridiculously attractive superheros.

Thor better not be on the Bus too.

When she finally emerged from the bathroom, Captain America was inspecting a bottle of whisky at the mini-bar.

"It's a little early for that, don't you think?" Skye called out casually as she made her way over to him.

He smiled ruefully at her, "I was just checking it out. You've got a pretty good selection here."

"Oh yeah, Ward-," _right, that guy still exists,_ "He's in charge of stocking the bar. Well he was. Refill?" Skye reached for Cap's but he put his hand over it.

"It's okay, I'll get it." He said graciously.

"Please, you're a guest here. No need to be so chivalrous." Skye protested but he only gave her that charming smile.

Leading the way back to the kitchen, Skye asked her first burning question, "So is Romanoff here with you?" She started up the coffee machine and turned back to Captain expectantly.

"No. She'll be here soon thought." He leaned against the counter. "She told me."

Skye didn't have to ask what Romanoff had told him, "Well, when you're the next Spock, people tend to get excited."

He looked at her, adorably confused, and she ducked her head.

"Right, WWII veteran," She muttered then she flashed him a smile, "Nevermind."

He accepted the fresh steaming mug of coffee from her. "Thank you. Look, I know it's none of my business-,"

Skye waved off his apology, "Don't worry about it. Seriously, it's better that you know now than find out some horrible way, when it's too late." Taking her own mug of coffee, she walked to stand in front of him, "So you never did tell me why you came onto out humble abode."

The Captain smiled at her over the top of his mug and Skye felt her insides melt. Good thing this countertop was here to keep her upright.

"I ran into Agent Romanoff the other day."

"You ran into her." Skye repeated dubiously.

He bowed his head concedingly, "I heard chatter that Coulson was alive and I sought her out."

Skye raised her eyebrows, impressed, "Wow. You found the Black Widow. Is super-tracking one of your superhero powers?"

"Is superb coffee making one of your alien superpowers?" He countered and Skye laughed, blushing a little. Was she really flirting with _Steve Rogers_?

"Captain, you praise too easily."

"Please, call me Steve." He replied and she could've died a happy woman right then and there.

"Steve," She repeated biting her lip to keep from smiling too wide and she looked up to meet his warm gaze.

After a few moments, she remember herself, "So, you found Romanoff…"

He broke his gaze, "Right, I found Natasha and she told me to come here to see for myself…so here I am. She told me to tell you that she's chasing down one last lead and then she'll be back."

"So have you seen him? Coulson, I mean."

Steve's face broke into another genuine smile, "Yeah, he sent me here actually. He was pretty thrilled but he had some more work to do at the base." His face turned serious, "Skye – can I call you that?- I'd be honored to help with anything I can- rebuilding SHIELD and finding out the truth about your history."

She was surprised, "Really?"

"Well, there are a few things that I'd like to make right with SHIELD's policies-,"

"No, about…helping me."

Steve looked down at her, sincere, "Of course. It sounds like you've done great things and I'd like to help SHILD repay the favor."

The hacktivist placed a hand on his arm, partially out of desire to touch some part of him to make sure he was real, and partially in gratitude. "Thanks, Steve."

Sensing movement to the side, Skye and the Captain turned to see Ward ten feet away, balancing a coffee tray with two cups on it in one hand, a small travel duffel in the other. His expression was blank.

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><p><em>What the fuck?<em>

"Oh, Ward, did you bring me coffee?" Skye gave him a dazzling smile. She spoke endearingly as if he had touched her heart by bringing her a container of scalding, bitter liquid but as he heard her words, he could only see her taking her hand off Captain America's forearm.

"You already have some." He said stupidly, noticing the closeness of Skye and the Captain's mugs and how the two seemed to lean into each other.

"This is for May. And I." He said quickly as the pilot walked by. A moment too late, he shoved the tray in her direction and to his relief, May accepted it after a moment of confusion, a glint in her eye. She raised the cup to him, toasting him, smug understanding written mockingly over her face. Why did Melinda May always have to be so damn perceptive?

"Plane's fueled up and ready to go." May announced, "Two creams, no sugar?" She regarded the cup and shrugged mischievously. Ward groaned inwardly. That was how Skye took her coffee. May drank it black.

Captain America, unaware of the understanding that had passed between the three team members, strode out from behind the counter as May left for the cockpit. He held out his hand cordially to Ward, "Steve Rogers."

Ward dropped his bag to shake his hand, "Grant Ward." He said almost resentfully.

Rogers' grip tightened minusculey on his and Ward saw him tense ever so slightly, his eyes narrowing. Ward knew Rogers recognized his name and he returned the firm grip, looking bolding back at the Captain, daring him to move, to throw the first punch. Animosity burned in the pit of his stomach at the thought of how intimate Skye and Rogers had looked before he interrupted them.

"Whew, you can practically feel the testosterone crackling in the air." Skye exclaimed. Her tone was neutral but Ward knew that she was just as on edge as him and Rogers. His eyes never left Rogers' but Ward knew Skye well enough to know that her expression was warning him to back off.

Rogers was the first to let go and Ward backed away, keeping his eyes on the Captain.

"I'd better go see if Fitzsimmons need help packing up." Ward said tersely, flicking his gaze over to Skye. She looked uneasy, possibly even guilty. She met his eyes for a second and the barrage of emotion in them nearly made him stumble. He said nothing to her though, just turned and walked away. The fact that Captain America didn't seem to have any intention of leaving her side dug into Ward like a knife in the chest.

When he had woken up alone that morning in Skye's room, part of him seemed to be missing. He had quickly packed and made the two cups of coffee with every intention of apologizing and explaining to Skye why he had been so distant the past few days, hoping to make amends once and for all. He had been battling reemerged demons about his loss of Skye and Garrett but he was ready to put those demons down once and for all, hopefully with Skye at his side.

But he hadn't been expecting Skye to replace him so fast with Captain America of all people. Trip had been wrong; Grant Ward could be replaced. With a mix of Cap's bad timing with his arrival and Ward's own mistake of brooding too long. He always seemed to wait until it was too late.

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><p>She watched him walk away with a heavy heart. Of course he was envious of Steve. Not only had she spent the night away from Ward, he had come looking for her the next morning and found her with a different guy. And the timing was awful. He had come in right when she had touched Steve.<p>

"So, uh, are you guys involved?" Steve asked clearly trying to be nonchalant but she could tell that he was ready to burst.

All Skye wanted to do was bury her face in her hands and hide in a dark corner. Just maybe not in that order.

"It's complicated." She managed to say, grabbing her cup to wash in the sink.

"Skye-,"

"Look," She turned to face him but instead of the anger she was expecting, she was met with concern. She softened her tone, "I know you've had a bad history with Hydra – we all have- but I know what I'm getting myself into."

Skye turned and took Steve's empty mug from the counter and rinsed it off. She could feel Steve's intense gaze on her back and his silence told her that he was measuring up his next words against her hard resolve.

"We should go say goodbye before we take off." Steve finally said and Skye nodded, following him out of the kitchenette and down to the cargo hold. Coulson was there along with Trip and Ward, talking to Delmore who was sitting in a wheelchair. Fitzsimmons were rattling off instructions to a man in a white lab coat who looked like he was struggling to keep up with their incessant chatter.

Delmore nodded to Skye and the Captain but didn't pause as he spoke to Coulson. Trip looked over and his eyebrows shot straight up for a second at the sight of the Avenger but he said nothing. Ward's eyes simply flicked over Skye, his expression collected and completely unreadable. He ignored Steve.

"Well, thank you, Agent Coulson. You can always count on us to deploy teams when needed." Delmore held out his hand to shake Coulson's.

The Director nodded, "Thank you, and take care."

Delmore turned to Skye, "Any chance I could persuade you to stick around and help out?"

Skye was unable to contain her snort of laughter, "Sorry, but there's no way I'd leave my team, sir." She confessed, looking over to Coulson, who smiled.

"Captain, it was nice meeting you."

"And you, sir."

Skye watched Delmore roll himself away with a feeling of relief and satisfaction. She was finally getting rid of this guy.

As soon as Delmore disappeared from sight, Trip turned to Steve.

"Well I'll be damned. Captain America. I'm Antoine Triplett. They all call me Trip."

"I think it goes without saying that he's a big fan." Skye said amusedly as she watched Trip pump Steve's hand up and down enthusiastically.

"Wheels up in ten." May announced and Skye turned to share a smirk with the Cavalry. She bounded up the stairs to join May on the balcony, mumbling something about securing everything in the living quarters as Fitzsimmons turned away from the man in the lab coat to idolize over Cap. As amusing as she knew it would be, she wasn't sure that she wanted to spend more time in the same room as Ward and Steve. The tension between them could fry an egg.

She knew why Steve would dislike Ward, but she couldn't fathom why Ward was so resentful of Steve. Sure, she understood that he was a little jealous but he had to understand that there were other men in the world besides himself and besides, he pushed her away first. It wasn't as though Steve had kidnapped Skye or anything, they had just been talking, not having sex on the countertop. There was no way jealousy would make Ward so angry.

"Preparing for take off. Better strap in." May advised over the intercom. Skye slide the door to her bunk shut and sat in the booth, reaching for the seat belts under the cushions. A figure sat down next to her, too bulky to be Simmons, Fitz or Coulson and she knew by scent that it wasn't Ward. Why did Steve keep seeking her out?

"I'm sorry, but I have to know. Why him? After all he did…"

Skye didn't meet his eyes, instead, she busied herself with the buckle, "I'm a strong believer in second chances." She said.

"That's one hell of a second chance." Steve said quietly. Skye glanced at him and knew that he wasn't being rude, he just wanted to understand.

"I was offered a second chance after I did something similar." Skye said, searching his face for judgment but she found none, "Ward forgave me and I'd like to repay the favor." She echoed Steve's words from earlier.

Steve looked back at her, intently, "I bet what you did wasn't half as bad as what he did though."

Skye laughed dryly, "That's a lot of faith to put in someone you just met." They were quiet as the plane began to lift into the air, then Skye couldn't help it.

"Have you ever loved someone that you knew was unwise to love but you loved them anyway because nothing else mattered? Have you ever just felt like it was always just the two of you, that the world outside doesn't exist?" Skye remember Ward's words to her the night they left Providence and she knew suddenly that he had been trying to tell her the truth, all along. She just hadn't thought to look for it.

Steve hesitated, "You love him?"

Skye turned away from his intense blue eyes, noticing that he failed to answer her question.

"I…I don't know."

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><p><strong>Heyyy all, I know a lot of you wanted to see Skye and Ward make amends but I believe that their relationship is still and always will be a little rocky at best. Plus, I kind of love writing angst. And who doesn't love a jealous Ward? Some of you guys out there ship CapSkye so this chapter is for you! Don't worry, I ship SkyeWard so much it hurts so this isn't the end for them!<strong>

**Let me know if you liked this chapter or even if you don't- feel free to leave a review! **


	25. Chapter 25: Ward-Skye

**Disclaimer: Still don't have a thing**

**Sorry sorry sorry I took so long to update!**

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><p>"Do you love him?"<p>

"I…I don't know."

Trip turned to face Ward, his eyes wide. Him and Ward were strapped into the white airplane seats farther down the plane from where Skye was sitting with Cap, trying not to eavesdrop on their conversation but it was hard, especially since both him and Trip possessed heightened specialist senses and most definitely since they were talking about him.

"What are you going to do?" Triplett asked, his voice low. But Ward only shook his head, completely stunned. _Did_ Skye love him? Hell, did _he _love her?

"Steve, I know it's hard for you to understand, but you just have to trust me. I've known him longer than you have." Skye coaxed, her quiet voice barely audible over the dull roar of the plane's engines. Ward continued to stare at Trip, knowing his expression mirrored that of his companion's- absolute dumbstruck. Like a fucking deer in the headlights. She called him Steve. By his first name. She never called Ward by _ his_ first name, except the one time he touched the Berserker Staff for the very first time. And why had _Steve_ asked if she loved him? What business of that was his?

The plane leveled and a minute later, May's voice announced over the intercom that it was safe to roam freely around the plane as they wished.

Ward unbuckled but remained in his seat, turning his head to look out the window.

"Is it just me, or is Cap trying to pick up your girl?"

_Damn right she was his girl._

"Ward, Trip, have you seen the Captain?" Coulson asked as he came up from the cargo hold. Ward pointed mutely in the direction of the kitchenette and Trip shut his mouth which had been gaping open, turning instead to look out the window as Ward had done.

"Thanks. Oh, and Ward? You don't have to stay in the Cage anymore. You can set up a cot out here or I think the couch pulls out…"

"Thank you, sir." Ward mumbled, still focused on Skye's words.

_The world outside doesn't exist._ His exact words to her at Providence.

"We should be at the Playground by tomorrow. We may need to refuel along the way but I don't think that will take long." Coulson informed them before going off to find Captain America.

Trip leaned forward again once Coulson was out of earshot, "Are you and Skye fighting?"

"Awh, lay off the poor fellow," Fitz said, appearing behind Trip.

Trip held up his hands in surrender, "Hey, purely self preservation. I don't want to walk in on a shouting match of have Skye beat me up in training for saying the wrong thing."

Ward gave him a look and suddenly Simmons appeared next to Fitz.

"You haven't seen Skye or-?" Then the English woman let out a gasp and surged forward.

"Honestly, it's like us men don't even exist when he's around." Fitz commented dejectedly. Both him and Trip were staring wistfully at the biochemist as she came into view with Skye in tow. They were whispering eagerly with their heads bent together as they walked past.

"It's like they're schoolgirls all over again, right Jemma? Jemma?" Fitz said in a raised voice but he was ignored. Shaking his head he turned back to the specialist, "don't worry, mates, once the initial shock wears off, they'll be back to normal." He said wisely.

"Yeah, you'll forgive me if I choose not to take advice about women from you." Ward muttered, shouldering past the engineer.

Trip hurried to catch up, "Seriously though, just _talk_ to her. I know she'll listen to whatever you have to say. Otherwise, you know women, they get all these crazy notions in their heads."

"I'll talk to her." Ward said shortly, shaking off Trip. He thudded down the stairs and came face to face with the women, who had stopped their chatter about Rogers to look up at him.

"I just- I'm going to the back to get some supplies." He explained, thinking quickly. There really was nowhere for him to hide- he didn't have his own bunk and the Cage had cameras. They just nodded and he brushed past them, his knuckles grazing Skye's arm by accident. He could have sworn he felt a spark when their skin touched. Ward knew they turned to watch him walk through the lab but he didn't turn back to meet their gazes.

Ward sat at the bar, swirling the amber liquid in his glass, deep in thought.

"This seat taken?"

The specialist looked up, keeping his expression smooth although his skin prickled with irritation, "Depends."

The lighter haired man watched him, his face equally as composed but Ward could see the tension in the other man's body.

"On what?"

Ward had raised his glass to his lips to take a sip but paused to ask, "Are you here to interrogate me?"

The Captain stood resolutely, "What kind of Avenger would I be if I wasn't? Don't worry, I'll save the hard questions for another day."

"In that case," Ward reached for the bottle and a clean glass, "You've earned yourself a Scotch."

Rogers sat and watched Ward carefully as the latter poured the drink.

"Relax, poisoning is not my style." He said wryly, setting the drink down in front of the other man.

Rogers took a sip and regarded the drink, clearly impressed, "This is good."

"I only know how to pick the best." Ward cast a sideways look at Cap, "Like Skye." He added blandly.

Rogers raised his eyebrows, squinting at the wall before turning to face Ward, "I thought you wanted to save the hard questions for a different day."

"Skye's not a hard question. It's very easy to me. I care for her, she cares for me. I would never do anything to hurt her."

"So you say and yet…" Rogers gestured to the metal bracelet that served as a constant reminder of Ward's untrustworthiness but Ward stared coolly back at the Avenger.

Rogers continued on, "But tell me, do you love her? More so than say, Hydra?"

Ward's fingers clenched around his glass for a second but he regained his composure, "I'm no longer affiliated with Hydra."

"Oh, but we're all associated with Hydra, aren't we? After all, that's what you told the lie detector." Rogers raised his glass to toast Ward, "Good job, by the way, you beat the unbeatable lie detector."

"You want to know my secret? They asked all the wrong questions." Ward took a sip of his own Scotch, letting the pointed comment hang in the air.

But Rogers was no so easily thrown off, "So, do you love her?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business." Ward's tone just asked for Rogers to provoke him further so they could just bypass the barbed remarks and get to the physical part of the fight.

Rogers turned to face Ward fully, "Skye deserv-,"

"Deserves better?" Ward finished bitterly, downing the amber liquid in one, letting the burning sensation down his throat fuel his actions, "Deserves better than this broken traitor of a man? A serial killer? A goddamn Nazi?"

Rogers laughed mirthlessly, "I wouldn't even call you a man."

Then Ward moved so he was nose to nose with the Captain, both standing with their muscles bunched, taut, ready to spring into action, "So, what, you're saying that you're what she deserves? You don't know Skye, you just met her." He spit, jabbing his finger into Rogers' chest, "_I_ know her, _I_ trained her."

"And you betrayed her!"

"Why do you think I'm here? Why do you think I've got cracked ribs and this goddamned bracelet? I'm here _for her_. To protect _her._ To redeem myself _for her_."

"Oh yeah? You say all that but I know your type. You're using her to worm your way out of a jail cell, to regain old favors and soon, you're going to use that all against them and screw everyone over!" Rogers eyes burned into Ward and in a flash, Ward shoved the Captain and he was shoved back in return then Ward had grabbed the collar of Rogers' shirt and had his right fist drawn back, ready to strike-.

"Ward! Stand down." Coulson barked and Ward looked over to see the Director standing with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face. Suddenly, the memory of him and Coulson in a similar situation hit him like a freight train. It had been in the same area of the plane, instead of Rogers, it had been Trip that Ward was about to punch. But the conditions were the same. It was for Skye. In a coma or awake, it was always for Skye.

Reluctantly, Ward released Rogers and stepped back, keeping a careful eye on him while Rogers straightened his shirt. Captain America wasn't known to pull and fast or dirty ones, but you could never be too sure.

Coulson's face held the same expression as the time he gave his first "team player" speech to Ward and the specialist knew what was coming next.

"We're on this plane as a _team_. It would do you both good to remember that." At this, Coulson shot a particularly nasty look at Ward. He was always forgetting but he couldn't really help it, he had always been trained to fly solo. "Now, we've got more pressing issues at hand than this strife you two seem to have so either sort it out now _peacefully_ or forget about it. Injuries by each other's hands aren't going to help us save the world. So stop acting like teenagers."

"Besides," Coulson added as an afterthought, "No one fights over Skye when I'm not present to participate and protect her best interests."

"Spoken like a true father." Rogers said gruffly and Ward had to agree although he continued to glare at his provoker.

Coulson made a shooing gesture and Ward backed away slowly in the direction of the end of the plan while Rogers turned his back and headed for the cockpit. Coulson watched as both men went their separate ways, clearing his throat as Ward continued to drag his feet. Ward's eyes met Coulson's hard ones and he turned and made his way down the hallway.

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><p>Skye flattened herself against the thin partition as Ward stormed by her heart pounding which had nothing to do with the fact that she had almost been caught eavesdropping. Slowly, she took her hand off her mouth which had been there to contain her gasp somewhere along the lines of Ward and Steve's conversation.<p>

She had no idea… her heart ached at the thought of the passion in Ward's voice when he proclaimed that he was there just for her, that everything he did seemed to be for her (even though she explicitly told him that he should be doing it for himself too). Thinking about it, it made sense to her that Ward's feelings toward her should be so intense. He rarely cared for others but when he did, it had to be profound. However, she wasn't ready to admit that he loved her. That word was still too strong and presumptuous.

As for Steve… she had almost walked in on them just as Steve had accused Ward of betraying (no doubt) her. Concealing herself behind the thin wall between the open area and the hall to the balcony, she listened to their fight. Skye had sensed the tension between them but she never thought Steve would be so hateful toward Ward. It's not like her former SO had a personal hand in causing pain to Steve. Of course, Captain America didn't know that Ward was only loyal to Garrett and not Hydra.

When Ward had rushed past her, Skye thought she was done for but in his rage, he hadn't even noticed her, something that rarely ever happened. Ward was always on high alert with his super senses and Skye had considered reaching out to him and talking to him but she thought better of it. If he was too upset to notice that she was there, he would be too upset to talk. All he needed was his time to blow off steam on his own and Skye knew that the "on his own" part of his was crucial.

"Well, I can definitely say that I have never had two guys fight over me like that, especially two _very_ hot agents of a top world security agency." Skye said as emerged from her hiding place. Coulson didn't even jump at her sudden appearance. Instead, he unfolded his arms and began to walk in the direction of the staircase to his office.

"And I can say I've never had to break up a fight between Ward and another guy over a girl."

Skye raised an eyebrow when Coulson turned back to look at her, "So, are you my adoptive father now?" She held her breath as she waited for his answer.

Coulson only smiled as he began to ascend the steps but it was all Skye needed.

"I suppose you don't have any doubt that Hydra really plays no part in their hostility toward one another?" Coulson asked her, opening the door for her.

Skye turned to him, surprised, "Isn't that the basis of their argument? I'm pretty sure-,"

"You were just ammunition? I don't think so. If you were, you would be a lot angrier. No, Hydra is only a part of it. The whole conflict is over you." Coulson interrupted, sitting down in his desk chair but Skye remained standing, dumbfounded.

"That doesn't make sense, Steve-,"

Coulson frowned, "Really, Skye, I had expected for you to have picked up on that by now." His frown relaxed into a more thoughtful look, "Maybe you just can't see it because you're in denial since it's you he likes."

It was Skye's turn to frown, "I think you got it all wrong, AC." But even as she said it, she could start to understand the unexplainable acrimony that Steve always seemed to possess when Ward was mentioned or around.

"Damn it." She muttered.

Coulson smiled thinly, "I think you know what you have to do now. They obviously won't settle this themselves."

_Choose one._

"But even after I choose… after I choose, the other will be upset, won't they? And either one of them upset would be bad."

"Not if you do it right. I plan on using you to unite them anyway, if you don't mind being used one last time."

"Me? How can they unite over me? I'm the one they're fighting over."

Coulson smirked, "Exactly, you are what they have in common. So try not to shatter the other's heart too much." Coulson advised wisely and Skye couldn't suppress her smile.

"You're a dangerous and sneaky, sneaky man, AC, playing those men's emotions like that."

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><p>Fitzsimmons had cleaned out Cavaco's room for Ward and made up a new one for the Captain in the next pod over. The doctor had stayed in Belgium to assist in the start up of the new French center and would eventually find his way back to Fury now that Fitz was making remarkable progress with his recovery. Ward liked to chalk it up to his encouragement but Simmons was convinced it was her constant pushing (or nagging as Fitz and Ward fondly called it behind her back).<p>

Ward purposefully turned his head to avoid making eye contact with Rogers as he passed by Ward's pod. He was still seething after Coulson broke up their altercation and had no desire to continue the conversation part of it, or be sedated by Simmons whom had been instructed by Coulson to do if necessary.

He had gone unashamedly to Fitzsimmons after nearly punching Captain America because his right arm was experiencing peculiar tingles and finger spasms. There, after some monitoring and voice speculations, the scientists had concluded that when Ward had tried to punch the Captain (he had explained the situation to them, resulting in a very disgruntled Simmons that was still very concerned about his ribs) the bracelet that circled his right wrist had sent electrical shocks up and down his arm supposedly strong enough to stop him but with the leftover Berserker rage still bottled up inside him, there had been no effect until after he began to calm down and the Asgardian influences slipped into the muted and dull state again.

Throwing back the covers of his cot, he settled into the small bed and shut his eyes, trying to ignore the faint tingles in his arm and the emptiness he felt without another body to fill.

He woke the next morning feeling worse than he had when he fell asleep. Fitzsimmons looked up as he walked through the lab, still rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

Simmons hummed sympathetically, "Was the cot lumpy? Not enough blankets? You look absolutely awful. Maybe you should take a nap on the couch-,"

"The cot was fine, Simmons. I just…couldn't relax enough to sleep. I don't need a sedative." He added hastily as Fitz pushed a cup of coffee into his hands.

"No worries, it's just coffee. _ He's_ up there already so I took the liberty of bringing you some coffee down here. Oh, and Skye made you this tray- she said this is what you eat every morning. Do you actually eat this stuff? It looks dry and wholly unappetizing." Fitz pulled up a stool for Ward and set the breakfast tray on a counter.

Ward mumbled his thanks. It was nice having the scientists fuss over him and guessing his emotions close to correctly. His thoughts gravitated back towards Skye, the very subject that had him tossing and turning the night before. She had made him a tray…it was both touching and a slap in the face. On one hand, she still cared enough to fix him his usual breakfast but on the other hand, it was a silent suggestion that she didn't want him up there eating with her and Cap. Whether or not she meant it as a double sided gesture, he didn't know for sure.

"You can't avoid him forever." Simmons said warily. Although she was generally accepting of Ward, he never missed the guarded looks she sometimes wore or the quick glances filled with caution that she threw his way when she thought he wasn't looking. Now, her words were chosen carefully, her tone delicate as not to upset him.

Ward turned his head half in her direction, "I can try." He said resolutely.

"Skye too." Simmons added quietly, "You need to speak to her at some time."

"Jemma, don't meddle." Fitz muttered to her but Ward shook his head.

"She's only trying to help, Fitz. So, what about you two?" He looked between the partners and their reactions were instantaneous. Simmons whirled around to give attention to the files she had been sorting through before he walked in and Fitz leaned in, cheeks pink but his face completely serious.

"Ag- Grant Ward, are you attempting to _gossip_?"

"You're right. I'll stop." Ward said, equally as grave and Simmons gave a little sigh of relief.

"But I hear that the Cage is a good place for a shag." He said out of the corner of his mouth and Fitz ducked away to mess with the Holotable and Simmons squeaked, stuffing the files into the box and running out of the room with the box.

Soon, she was back and the scientists were bickering again about one of Fitz's ideas, just as they always did when attempting to cover an uncomfortable moment and Ward finished his breakfast in relative peace.

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	26. Chapter 26: Skye-Ward

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything… which is why I must keep writing this**

**Heey guys! Kudos to you if you're reading this right now! I'll leave an author's note for you down below if you want to know my new plan for this story! But for now, all you have to know is that this is an new chapter and I hope you enjoy~**

They stopped for a day on their way to the Playground because Simmons _insisted_ that they needed to restock their medical supplies ASAP because what would they do if they were boarded on their way out to the Playground? And Simmons was not losing a patient to exsanguination, not if she could help it so they needed to be fully stocked at all times.

Secretly, Skye believed that Simmons just wanted to let everyone off the Bus in hopes that once the doors opened, the tension between Ward, Steve and Skye would dissipate into the fresh air.

Coulson's errand had been cancelled so he was more than willing to set foot on solid ground for a few hours to refuel and get something other than airplane food to eat.

So that's how Skye found herself squashed between Steve and Fitz in a high-end restaurant, watching a gorgeous and impossibly curvy redhead walk up to their already crowded table. She was the pinnacle of fashion in her charcoal dress with an asymmetric neckline and sky high stilettos that Skye had no doubt were Louboutins or some other name brand with ridiculous pricing. She carried a simple bold blue clutch that the hacktivist knew was filled with lethal pointy objects and a small pistol.

"Ah, Agent Romanoff, what a surprise! Here, let me get you a chair-," Coulson rose to signal to a nearby waiter and seconds later, a chair materialized between Ward and Simmons. Romanoff shot Skye a very brief but very meaningful look as she slid into her chair and Skye grimaced her way as Fitz's elbows dug into her side when he shifted in his seat to speak to Coulson.

Turning away, Romanoff's lips thinned as she leaned into hear Ward's quiet words to her. Skye watched as the Black Widow's obvious look of distaste towards the specialist lessened as she returned his whispers with some remarks. Skye didn't realize that she was leaning toward them in attempt to hear their conversation until she nearly toppled into Steve's lap, her hand shooting down onto his thigh to catch herself. He steadied her and Skye looked back up in time to see Ward turning back to Romanoff, fury barely concealed beneath his smooth complexion.

"Skye, what are you having?" May asked, trying to draw attention away from the moment but Steve's hands were still wrapped around her and Skye was watching Ward's jaw twitch as Romanoff asked him a question in low tones. Skye swung her head to face May who was sitting in front of her before Ward could glance in her direction again.

"Uhm, the salad with the uh…" She stammered, pulling away from Cap which caused her to bump her head against Fitz's curly (and hard) one. The hacktivist tried to hide behind her menu but she could feel Ward's eyes burning into her skin, making her hot all over. She was beginning to wish that they had stayed on the Bus because it would have been easier to avoid Ward and Steve there.

"Do you think they serve alcohol here this early?"

Later that night, after Skye had spent an hour tossing and turning in her bed, she decided to go get a glass of water. She had spent the day actively avoiding Coulson, Steve and Ward because she simply didn't want to be reminded of the task she still had to carry out. Avoiding the Captain and Coulson meant that she hadn't been able to talk to Romanoff since the Black Widow had been next to either one of them the whole day. Trip had been a constant companion of Ward's so that left Skye to talk to Fitzsimmons and May as they ran errands.

The common area was dark, dimly lit by only the wall lights. Skye padded quietly to the kitchen, trying not to think about all the times she made her way to the Cage at the same time of night to spend the night with Ward.

But before she could reach the tiles of the kitchen, a hand clamped down around her mouth and nose, effectively silencing and choking her while another arm latched around her middle, lifting her and dragging her away to a dark corner. Skye struggled, thrashing out but her captor was too strong for her. Skye's muffled shouts weren't audible over Fitz's monstrous snores coming out of his bunk next to them.

Skye threw her elbows against her assailant but they bounced off him like he was a stone wall. She was becoming weak from the lack of oxygen when she saw a figure streak past the booth and crouch behind the divider between the booth and dining table. Her mind went into overdrive- they were being attacked on their own plane and they were all about to die. She was seconds away from losing herself to unconsciousness and she prayed that the rest of the team would be able to wake up in time to save themselves.

Then she saw another figure walk purposefully but leisurely towards the cockpit, clearly unaware of the person crouched just out of their line of sight. Skye tried to scream when she saw the person walking fall under the other's well placed low kick. They were on the floor scuffling but all Skye heard were dull thuds.

Suddenly, just as Skye was about to pass out, she felt herself being released and she collapsed onto the ground, gasping for her life, rubbing her throat.

"He's out." A voice whispered and Skye recognized it as Romanoff's. What was going on?

"Take him to the Cage." A gruffer voice instructed- Ward's. Skye stumbled in their direction, groping along the table to keep herself upright. Peering down, she saw the familiar face of Dan, the rookie agent from Delmore's base.

"We'll interrogate him tomorrow when everyone's up." Romanoff decided aloud. Skye looked up to meet the Black Widow's watchful gaze. Skye opened her mouth to ask why Dan was there and why he was knocked out but Romanoff spoke first.

"You didn't have to choke her half to death, did you?" She asked Ward sharply but he remained silent, helping Romanoff position the body to drag to the Cage, "I'm going to do a final sweep to make sure there's not more of him on this damn plane."

Giving Ward one last dirty look, Romanoff began to move to the other end of the plane. Only then did Ward turn to Skye.

"Are you okay-?" He asked, reaching for her but she jerked away, causing her head to spin again.

"_Don't_ touch me." She spat, stilling leaning half her weight on the table, "What is wrong with you? You almost killed me!"

His face remained stoic as he withdrew his hand from her and the shadows cast across his face by the dim lighting only made him seem more like he was chiseled form stone. "I had to make sure you wouldn't make a sound without alarming you first. It would take a lot more than that to kill you." Ward's fingers hovered over the spot on Skye's stomach where the scars from her gunshot wounds were before dropping back down to his side.

Seething from his double-ended comment and nonchalance, Skye rejected his helping hand again and made her way slowly back to her bunk.

Throwing herself under the covers, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out her questions about Dan and her renewed anger at Ward but to no avail. She was just as restless as she was before, even after she had brought down her heart rate. She hadn't been sleeping well for days and she knew exactly why that was. Jumping out of bed, she threw open the door of her bunk with every intention of resolving her insomnia to find Ward standing on the other side, his fist raised to knock. There was a beat of shock from both sides and Skye didn't know who moved first but then they were kissing hungrily and moving backwards into the bunk. Ward turned them around and slid the door closed without breaking contact, pressing her against it once it was shut.

Skye slipped her tongue past his lips while her hands traced the taut muscles in his back, making him moan and tighten his hands around her hips. His lips traveled south, brushing against her neck with such tenderness that he had lacked earlier when he was holding her silent.

"I'm sorry." He whispered brokenly, bringing his face up to meet hers again. Skye ran her fingers through his ungelled locks, bringing his mouth down on hers again.

"It's okay." She said into his lips sincerely, "I missed you."

"I love you."

The words seemed to have tumbled out of his mouth on their own accord because when Skye jerked back, she saw a brief flash of shock cross his face which was quickly replaced by the most vulnerable look she had ever seen Grant Ward wear.

Swallowing her surprise, Skye ran her hands down his chest, not missing the erratic rhythm that drummed under her fingertips before she looked back up at him. His molten eyes were wide, anticipating her reaction to his declaration. Skye leaned up and pressed her lips to his, fully aware of the tear streaking down her cheek. He kissed her back quickly before pulling away to search her face.

"Why are you crying?" He asked worriedly, framing her face in his big hands. Skye laughed causing more tears to leak out of the corners of her eyes as she buried her face into his chest.

"Because I love you too."

When he woke the next morning, his arms were empty and the blankets were rumpled from where Skye had slipped out of bed that morning. Tossing the covers aside, Ward grabbed his shirt from the foot of the bed and slid open the door of Skye's bunk. The Captain was just walking by and when he turned to see Ward framed in the doorway of Skye's bunk, his step faltered a little. Ward returned his gaze unashamedly, letting the implication of his presence in Skye's quarters transfer fully to Cap. The exchange lasted two seconds at most before Rogers continued purposefully to the cockpit and Ward entered the kitchen which was occupied by Fitzsimmons and Skye, whose back was to him as she fixed coffee. He nodded briefly to the scientists before striding up to Skye and putting a light hand on her back. When she turned to face him, he captured her lips with his. He heard Simmons' quiet "awh" and Fitz's muffled groan but he ignored them, pulling away to look down at Skye. She smiled widely up at him and he was sure he had an even goofier grin splashed across his face.

"Good morning."

Skye reached up and pecked his lips again before handing him a cup of coffee, "Sleep well?"

Before he could answer, Simmons cleared her throat pointedly and he turned to see Rogers entering the kitchen, trying to look as casual as possible while Trip tailed him in, not bothering to hide his broad smirk.

"There's coffee in the pot." Skye announced, moving out of the way. The kitchen was near its full capacity with six people so when Coulson rushed in, Ward had to press himself against the fridge to avoid getting coffee splashed over himself.

"I need everyone in Command in five." Coulson announced, accepting a cup of coffee from Skye before ducking out, his tie almost dropping into Fitz's plate of eggs.

"I should really go help," Fitz mumbled, his hand hovering protectively over his food as he maneuvered his way out of the cramped kitchen.

Ward swiped a piece of toast from the plate next to Trip before following Fitz out. He had totally forgotten about their prisoner in the Cage and the _other _events that had transpired last night.

When he joined Romanoff, Coulson and Fitz in the Command Center, they had a running visual up of Dan sitting at the table of the Cage. He had a spectacular black eye forming on his face that matched a similar bruise lining his jaw.

"You really did a number on him, didn't you? He's just a kid. All you would have had to do was yell at him." Ward remarked but Romanoff glared at him.

"You were once a kid too and look at how you turned out." Romanoff pointed out but her tone wasn't malicious, just factual, "Besides, look at who's talking; you almost killed Skye last night."

Fitz's head snapped around to look at Ward so fast that he was afraid that the engineer might have broken his own neck but Coulson didn't even react to the words being exchanged around him. The Director just continued to watch the boy on the screen.

"What did he say he wanted?" Coulson asked, indicating the rookie SHIELD agent.

Romanoff adjusted her stance to face the Director more fully, "He said he had a message to get to you that he wanted to give to you personally."

"And did he say how he got onto this plane?"

"No sir. It must have been while you were out at lunch."

Ward crossed his arms and squinted at the boy bathed in semi darkness. He was barely moving, his hand twitching every so often to show that he was still alive, "But why would he follow us all the way here…? Why not just relay the message to you while we were still at the base?"

"Maybe he didn't want you to know, Ward." Romanoff muttered under her breath and Ward raised an eyebrow at her but before he could snark a reply back, the rest of the team filtered into the Command Center.

"We're going to need a bigger bus." Coulson murmured as they shuffled around to make room for everyone. Skye slipped in next to Ward unnaturally silent and Simmons folded her hands carefully in front of her as the biochemist took her spot next to Fitz. Ward narrowed his eyes at the biochemist. Whenever Simmons took extra care in body movements it meant that she was trying to smooth over an awkward or delicate situation and judging by Skye's stony silence and the biochemist's care to keep her eyes adverted from the Captain and Ward, there had been an argument back in the kitchen between Rogers and Skye and that argument would have been about Ward.

Coulson, again, took no notice of the tension in the air and began to fill in the team about how Ward and Romanoff had suspected someone of sneaking onto the plane and successfully captured him, revealing the culprit to be Dan, the foot soldier from Delmore's base.

"Is he Hydra?" Fitz's question was directed at Ward and the team along with the Avengers all turned to look at Ward.

He shook his head, peering once again at the battered boy to be sure, "If he is, then he would have been recruited after my time."

"Well they like to get 'em young, don't they?" Rogers said blandly. Ward let the barbed comment slide but Skye stiffened next to him.

Surprisingly, Romanoff glared at Steve but spoke to the whole team, "Let me go in and I'll get the truth out of him."

Trip made a noise of dissent, "No disrespect, but if you go back in there, I think the kid might pee his pants."

"I'll go," Coulson decided vocally, "He asked for me."

May started forward as if to hold him back, "Coulson, you're Director now. You can't just waltz in and talk to any prisoner."

"Send Ward in." Skye suggested and Ward looked down in shock at the hacktivist, "He talked personally with Dan back at the base."

"Absolutely not." Rogers said sharply and Ward felt Skye bristle a little. He brushed the back of his hand against hers in attempt to calm her down but she was already snapping.

"Steve, if you-,"

Trip interrupted, "I'll go in," But Skye was still firing off at the Captain, clearly more than eager to continue their argument from before.

"-Just because I didn't-,"

Steve responded back angrily and in the confusion, Ward was sure that he was the only one who saw Dan get out of his chair as if he knew what was going on with the people that were watching him. But then Simmons' clear and high voice ripped across Trip's frantic attempts to dispense the argument while Skye and Steve went at it continually louder.

"Guys, _stop_!"

Everyone whipped around to look at the biochemist as she pointed to the live feed with a steady finger. Dan was now standing directly under the hidden camera's view so that his body took up the entire screen.

"I need to speak with Philip Coulson. It concerns Skye's father."

**Thanks as always for reading! **

**So first off, I should apologize for now updating/ finishing the story as I had previously promised but my plan has changed. I found out that I wasn't really too happy with the way that season two is progressing…don't get me wrong, I still love the show but I really wanted more Skyeward…although their version of their relationship is much more realistic than mine. So needless to say, I'm continuing this story as a most definite AU so that us Skyeward shippers can have the best of both worlds. I can't promise a steady update schedule but I will try to update as much as I can. I hope that in the actual show, Ward will get his redemption or at least continue to be a constant character and I can see that the chemistry between him and Skye hasn't completely died out yet- there's still hope! Anyway, thanks to everyone who is continuing to read and support even after all this time!**


	27. Chapter 27: Ward

**Disclaimer: You know the drill**

Ward moved instinctively, wedging his body between Skye and the table, as if his body could protect her from the image on the screen and the words flowing out of his mouth.

"Coulson," Ward said, his voice tight, silently begging the Director to do something. When the Director turned to look back at the specialist, his face as blank as the rest of the team's, Ward turned to the Black Widow.

"'Tash, what's he talking about?"

The redhead recovered herself quicker than Coulson, "I…I don't know. I never ran into any leads that could involve him."

Ward pushed on, refusing to let this be another situation that caught them off guard and left them hopelessly in the dark, "Maybe he was following you. Maybe he was involved and you just missed his name-,"

He knew all the possibilities that he was coming up with weren't viable- Natasha Romanoff was too meticulous, too good at what she did that there was no way she had missed anything that simple. It was bigger than just this one kid. Frustrated, Ward put both hands on the table and kicked the bottom of it.

He felt a gently hand on his shoulder, "Ward. Grant. It's okay."

Ward turned his bowed head slightly in her direction as he fought to keep his cool, "No, Skye, it's not. There's something…" He raised his hand to cover his face briefly, effectively pulling away from her touch. She had been so animated, so aggressive just moments before but although she was still tense, she was quiet now, more reserved. He glanced up to see her face and immediately wished that he hadn't. Not an hour ago he had encountered her bright, smiling face in the kitchen. Now she looked as though she had aged fifteen years, fifteen hard and stressful years. Her features had transformed so that they were weary, too tired to fight the fight. She looked ready to give up. The polar opposite of her usual determined and flamboyant self. She looked vulnerable and Ward felt his heart clench painfully.

"I'll go in and talk to him." Trip said and this time, it wasn't an offer. He left before anyone could stop him. Ward cut his eyes to the Black Widow, wondering if they should tell Skye what they had discussed back at the restaurant but Romanoff caught his eye and shook her head almost imperceptibly as if she had read his mind. Ward turned back to Skye.

"Ward," She said again quietly, reaching out to grasp his fingers on the table, "It's _okay_. You can't always control everything." She reminded him in a whisper so that no one else could hear.

"So, you're the rookie that broke onto the Director's plane." Trip's voice appeared over the intercom and Ward turned reluctantly away from Skye before he could respond. He should be the one comforting her, not her him.

"I asked for Coulson." Ward detected a tremble in Dan's voice, so miniscule that it could easily have been the static from the feed but Ward was too rehearsed in reading people that he wasn't so easily fooled.

Simmons was bent over one of her trusty tablets whispering the conditions of Dan's vitals to Fitz who had sent a D.W.A.R.F. in after Trip to collect data.

Thankfully Trip was as good an interrogator as Ward and picked up all the signs he was supposed to. He leaned forward, taking up as much table space as he pleased so that Dan would be forced to shrink back to keep his personal bubble.

"See, I was sent in here to determine if you are here as a friendly or Hydra. Those are your two choices. Tell me, Dan, are you familiar with how we treat Hydra? You must be; you were there when we took the French base. I bet you never saw so much carnage before in your life." Suddenly, Trip got up from his chair with a terrible scraping noise, causing Dan to flinch and Skye to jump beside Ward. He reached down to take her hand which he had to pry off the edge of table. Immediately, her fingers wove through his and squeezed hard, showing how tense she was.

"I'm here to help," Dan insisted as Trip approached him and Ward saw the detainee's hands shake in effort to keep from cowering as Trip stepped well into his personal space, bracing one hand on the back of Dan's chair, the other on the table in front of him.

"I know that _you_ know that as agents of SHIELD we don't do much of torturing or killing if we don't have to," Trip looked up at the camera and gave a nod, as if to signal that the camera should be turned off. After waiting for a beat as if to make sure that the camera was turned off, Trip kicked the leg of Dan's chair, causing him to tumble onto the floor. Kicking the chair aside, Trip towered over the now openly cowering boy, "I usually agree with those policies but if there's one thing that I won't stand for it's strangers sneaking onto my plane while I'm sleeping, otherwise peacefully, at that. So I'm going to give you one more chance to tell me – what is your purpose here?"

"I… need to -," the words were forced and Ward was sure that the foot soldier was about to wet his pants.

Trip leaned down menacingly, "I'm sorry, what was that? You what?"

"They sent me to give the message!"

Bingo.

Trip withdrew left the room abruptly, reappearing in the Command Center moments later.

"Whenever you're ready, Agent Romanoff." He said graciously.

"I thought you didn't want her going in because she would scare the crap out of him." Rogers commented.

Trip shrugged, "Nah, man, I just wanted to be the first one to do it."

Romanoff only smirked before brushing past the team, summoning Rogers along with her so they could rattle Dan to the extreme.

Ward glanced at Skye who was looking determined but pale.

"You okay?" He whispered, fully aware that May was watching them carefully.

"I think I need to step out for a minute." Skye said in a forced calm voice.

"Maybe you should go sit down for a bit." May suggested in a surprisingly gentle voice, "You could use the rest." Skye hesitated but Coulson convinced her.

"You won't hear anything any more sooner but just standing here. Go try to relax out there. We'll handle this."

Without another word, Skye strode out. After a few moments, Ward followed under after having the team stare expectantly at him.

"I didn't ask you to come, Ward." Skye snapped but Ward sat down on the sofa nonetheless and watched her pace.

"You know, most people don't consider pacing as a relaxing activity. All you're doing is projecting your stress onto the floor of this plane."

"Ward stop."

"No, hey, come here." He reached out and grabbed her, pulling her down onto the couch next to him. She struggled for a minute but eventually fell still when she realized that there was no way he was letting her go. Slowly, she sat up and adjusted her position so she was looking him in the eye.

"Sometimes I wish I never had a family to begin with. Maybe this is causing more trouble than its worth."

"Skye…" He knew that eventually she would go down this road and he knew that when she did, he wouldn't know what to say to her. On one hand, Ward wanted to tell her to keep believing in family and love and the good in people. On the other hand, he knew that he was the perfect example of why those were only ever just fairytales.

She buried her face in his shoulder, muffling her words, "All my family as ever brought me is pain. Literally. Maybe I should just forget about all this. Then the team won't have to endanger their lives for me. I just want to be done searching, done reaching dead ends and not knowing what is going on half the time." Suddenly, she sat bolt upright and fisted her small hand sin the front of Ward's shirt and looked directly into his eyes.

"Let's run away."

Ward chuckled before realizing that she was being dead serious, "Babe-,"

In one swift movement, Skye was on his lap, her hands placed excitedly on his chest, "We could leave the team and go off on our own. We'd take care of each other and they would be safe here away from us if my family ever came looking for me or if I spontaneously turned into a psycho…"

_You could be monsters together._ Raina's words echoed in Ward's mind but he pushed them down. One of them had to be rational here.

"We can't." His voice came out a more forcefully than he had intended. Skye held his gaze for a moment, the frantic gleam slowly fading out of her eyes.

"You're right." She murmured, sliding carefully off his lap. Ward let out a small breath of relief. One more second and he would've thrown all rational thoughts out the window and agreed to run off with her. He added a quip about how May and Coulson would have killed him if they had left but it was too late and she wasn't listening anyway.

"Hey," Gently, Ward reached out and took her chin in his fingers, turning her to look at him, "We all just want you to be happy. You would have done the same thing for us- for them. I'll ask Coulson to call it off if you want but don't think for a minute that anyone is doing anything that they don't want to. Plus, I know you'll never forget yourself if you let this lead go."

Skye's doe-like eyes lingered on his before she took the hand that was holding her chin in two of her own. Her head came down to rest on his shoulder and Ward felt her petite body shift against him as she let out a long breath.

Romanoff found them like this when she emerged from the Cage. As soon as Skye saw the Black Widow, she bounced up from the sofa and Ward straightened himself, watching as the rest of the team crowded out from the Command Center.

"Well?" Skye prompted.

"Steve's in there pumping him for any additional information but I think he's said all he could possibly know." Romanoff started and Simmons came around to Skye and sat her back down on the sofa, rubbing her back soothingly. Fitz perched on the other end of the sofa, closest to Simmons and Romanoff and Coulson took the chairs across the sofa. May and Trip remained standing.

"Dan knows of your father but he's never met him before. The only reason he knows anything is because of Raina." Romanoff reported.

Ward groaned, "She got to him too? That woman's almost as good at recruitment as Hydra."

"More like propaganda and manipulation," Trip amended and Ward inclined his head at his fellow specialist conceedingly.

Coulson eyed Ward, "Remind me to ask you about that sometime."

"Guys," Skye prodded.

Romanoff resumed, looking slightly miffed at being interrupted, "They want another meet. This time with Coulson." Ward turned to Skye, bewildered who in turn was staring at Romanoff with the same surprised look.

"Did he say why? Does he want me there too?" Skye pressed not even bothering to mask her urgency.

"No. He does not. Dan doesn't know anything really. Raina just approached him and convinced him that this was what we wanted and that he was doing the absolute right thing coming to us like this."

Ward jumped in, "So why all the cloak and dagger?"

"Evidently he was warned to release the info to Coulson and Coulson only." Romanoff smirked.

Fitz added hastily, "Agent Romanoff and Cap are very good at interrogation."

"Hush, Fitz, they know," Simmons hissed, laying a hand on his lap as if to restrain any more words coming out of the engineer's mouth.

"Dan's nothing but a messenger. A stupid and gullible foot solider that Raina preyed upon. But Raina is good, I'll give her that. The whole time I was chasing down intel, nothing about them came up. They must be playing this really close to the chest. Every contact of mine knows _of_ Raina but they don't know anything about her. All they know is that she just appeared one day commanding things exactly as she wanted as if she had done it all her life.

"Skye, I think it was your father that took Raina in and made her into what she is today."

Skye sat back and Ward ran a hand up and down her arm, "You mean like a pseudo-child?"

"I'm guessing more of a protégé or assistant. For all we know, she could just be another pawn."

"Or the mouthpiece." Rogers strode up to them, his eyes flicking over Skye before returning his attention to the Director, "Dan says the meet is to be between Coulson and Raina. Skye's father won't be making a guest appearance."

May spoke up, "We'll need some new faces for undercover back up."

"Wait," Skye sat forward again, "You aren't really thinking of doing this, are you?"

"We've already decided." Coulson said, avoiding the hacktivist's eyes.

"AC , you can't. You're _Director_ for goodness' sakes. It could be a trap for all you know-,"

Trip mused aloud, "Fat lot of faith you got in your old man."

"Shut it, Trip." Skye snapped before looking imploringly at Coulson, "You don't have to go…"

Coulson got up and knelt in front of Skye, lowering his voice so only Simmons, Skye and Ward could hear him, "You've taken care of me Skye. Now let me take care of you. Please."

"I have a few guys I could call up and ask to come in. There's one that I know who will make it for sure." Rogers told May.

"Yeah? Private contractors?" Trip raised an eyebrow at Rogers, intrigued.

"Of a sort. They're buddies of mine."

Coulson and Skye continued their stare off and if Ward didn't know better, they were exchanging words telepathically.

"Fine." Skye acquiescenced.

Ward stood, squeezing Skye's shoulder and looked to Rogers, "What's the name?"

Rogers eyed him evenly, "Lance Hunter."

**Boom. And that's how you integrate season 2 into an otherwise AU fic. **

**Very special thanks to Lightningtiger2 for helping me come up with ideas on how to get Hunter up in this fic!**

**Reviews are love~**


	28. Chapter 28: Skye

**Disclaimer: I don't own a thing**

**Sorry it's been so long… **

**Fluffy fluff fluff**

"Simmons, take this away from me before I get fat and slow!" Skye pushed the carton of rum raisin away from herself and towards the biochemist who neatly put the cap back on a placed it on the coffee table in front of them. They had been talking and snacking for the last half hour while therest of the team was scattered around the Bus doing their own thing until they were to land at the Playground in two hours' time. Skye and Simmonshad originally been speculating about Skye's father but as the British woman turned back to Skye, the hacktivist sensed a shift in topic.

"So Skye, you and Ward…" Simmons prompted and Skye bit back a smile as she licked the last drop of ice cream off her spoon.

"Yeah, we're good now I think. I mean, he was super moody before but it's Ward. It would have been weird if he was happy all the time." She responded, rolling her eyes a little.

Simmons said softly, "He is happy all the time now. He's happy when you're around."

There was something in Simmons' tone that made Skye look up concernedly and ignore how cliché her words were.

"Simmons, is everything okay?"

"It's just…"

Skye scooted closer to her friend, "What is it? You can tell me Jemma."

Simmons sighed and curled up into herself a little more, "Sometimes it's hard to forget what he did. I know he makes you happy and I know he's working hard for redemption and he's saved our lives, but…"

Skye let out a small breath, squeezing Simmons' knee gently in understanding, "I know. And I think that's what he's been thinking about these last two weeks. I mean, talk about an existential crisis. " Skye lowered her voice, "I'm still trying to figure out what the best way to deal with all this is," She confessed with a wild gesture of her hands, "I look at Fitz and I don't know what to think. How to feel. Then I look at Ward…and my head just starts to hurt." Groaning, Skye flopped back onto the couch, reaching for the ice cream again, "It's like a guilt trip every time I see either one of them."

"I don't…" Simmons' voice thickened and Skye looked over in alarm to see the biochemist's teary eyes, "I don't know what to do about Fitz. He's getting better but I doubt he'll ever be the same again. And he simply _adores_ Ward."

"You don't know who to blame." Skye translated and Simmons nodded miserably. Skye popped open the lid of the ice cream and waved her spoon as she talked, "Sometimes you can't just blame people. I guess you just have to accept that it's a fucked up situation and move on from there," She said wisely.

"Is that what happened with you , Steve and Ward?"

Skye choked at Simmons' smooth segue and saw that she was grinning through her damp eyes.

"_Simmons."_

"What?" the biochemist said innocently, "I'm curious and you just reminded me of that."

"Steve…and Ward…._not _Steve, he was just…" Skye spluttered, knowing that she was making absolutely no sense.

Simmons pointed delicately at Skye's spoon, "Careful, you'll drip that on your clothes."

Skye shoved the spoon into the carton of ice cream and said firmly, "Steve and I were never a possibility. He just hates Ward. Well, maybe not _hate_ but he hates Hydra and the Red Skull and Ward happens to have been recruited for Hydra…"

"I've seen the way Captain Rogers looks at you There's definitely an attraction that could have fueled his dislike of Ward." Simmons said, her eyes dry now. While Skye was glad her friend was no longer on the verge of tears, she wasn't sure that this was the conversation she wanted to be having then and there.

"Well," Skye started slowly, careful to pick her words wisely, "maybe in another world but-," Then she stopped herself, not sure she was ready to tell Simmons the "I love you's she and Ward had exchanged the other night, "-he's _Captain America_ and I'm just a hacktivist with a track record. And he's…ancient. He doesn't get half the jokes I make."

Simmons hummed in agreement, "But his physique. Have you seem his arms?"

Skye picked up her spoon, relieved that she had navigated that part of the conversation well, "Mmm, definitely dreamy. And his _chest_. I mean, my _God_. His is smile is to die-," She stopped abruptly, eyes widening as she heard the low tones of two males' voices. Simmons heard it too and her hand went flying up to cover her mouth.

"Are you sure you don't want any of this rum raisin, Simmons?" Skye asked lamely in attempt to smooth over their surprise.

"No, thank you." Simmons responded a few seconds too late and Skye cursed her biochemist's terrible lying skills.

"You really shouldn't be eating that stuff," Ward chided as he and Trip came into view, "It'll slow you down and hinder your training."

Skye gave Simmons a knowing look and scoffed, "It's ice cream, Ward. Its benefits clearly outweigh its negative effects. Besides, I'm on vacation." She directed the last part to Trip who held up his hands in surrender.

"Hey, I'm not one to deny a girl her ice cream. But you know what that means when two girls are eating ice cream together." Trip raised his eyebrows at Skye who rolled her eyes.

"One." Simmons said suddenly and everyone turned to look at her, "only one girl was eating ice cream. She finished blushing a little at her outburst.

There was a pause the Trip spoke up, "Actually Simmons, I had a question that I was meaning to ask you about the GH-325 drug. I was going through your notes and I came across something…"

Skye smirked at Trip's smooth over, taking a bite of her ice cream. She felt Ward's eyes on her as she slowly (and perhaps a little too seductively) slid the spoon out of her mouth.

"Let's go down to the lab and we can pull up the data on the Holotable." Simmons suggested.

"See you guys," Skye said a little vaguely and Ward gave something of a grunt.

"Want some?" Skye offered Ward once Trip and Simmons had disappeared.

He cleared his throat a little unsteadily, "Uh, no thanks. We should… we should talk though."

"You sure about that?" Skye teased, her eyes flicking up and down his body, "I think I know all that there is to know." She took pride in seeing his jaw twitch as he fought for control of his body.

"Skye…"

"Mmhm," She reached over and tossed the carton onto the coffee table and pulled him down in one swift movement, "I'm tired of talking," She whispered in his ear, letting her lips graze his earlobe.

His lips ghosted over her cheek as he replied, "You were talking about Rogers before. Let's talk about me now."

"Well, you've got really nice arms too but Steve's are much bigger," Skye murmured, running her hands up and down his biceps as Ward hovered over her, "And Steve's chest is much more defined but I've always liked my men to firm but not unyielding-," she was cut off by Ward's lips catching hers harshly before he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.

"Skye."

The hacktivist sighed, unable to dissuade him from 'the talk', "Look, you don't have to apologize. You needed time. Maybe we both did."

Ward pulled away and sat down next to her, his expression borderline uncomfortable and his voice tight, "But you and Rogers… you never… I mean you could have if you wanted-,"

"_No._" Skye said firmly and Ward relaxed visibly, "Not when I've got you," she pulled Ward towards her again.

"Although," She added as an afterthought, "if you were ever to die while on a mission, I wouldn't mind getting my hands on his body-," She teased but was cut off yet again by Ward's hard lips on hers.

"I'm _kidding,_" She mumbled inbetween kisses but she didn't push him away, "but you have to admit, he has a fine physique," She continued as his lips traveled down her neck and his fingers traced the skin exposed by her hitched up shirt.

"Yes, but what you have _here, _babe, this is all-natural, self-made muscle. Not an experiment." Ward breathed but Skye laughed. The specialist pulled away and looked up at her with an aggrieved look on his face.

"Babe?"

Ward smirked, "What, you don't like it?"

Skye placed her hands on either side of his face and kissed him sweetly, "I just didn't expect it from you, _babe_."

"You can take the drawers on the right side and just shove my clothes aside to make room for your own stuff." Skye instructed Ward as she dumped her duffel onto the bed and kicked her box into a corner by the dresser, "I'll put my stuff away later. I just want a shower now."

Ward looked around the room, "You know, when you first told Coulson that we could share a room I was worried that our stuff wouldn't fit but I guess I was wrong."

Skye shrugged, "I couldn't exactly be a hoarder when I was living out of my van." She pointed out.

"We'll have to get your old stuff out of storage." She remembered, eyeing his own bag of meager possessions.

"You kept it?" Ward said incredulously, setting his bag carefully down on the bed.

Skye grinned, "Well we kept you didn't we? Besides, it was evidence. Come on, let's go get it so you can get properly settled in." She led the way out the room.

"Do you think this is the closest we'll ever get to moving in together?" Ward asked suddenly as Skye led him through the winding halls of the Playground.

"What do you mean?" Skye asked, scanning her finger into a small pad before performing a retinal scan. The door clicked open and Skye navigated through the tall shelves before reaching an empty rack, save for a large cardboard box covered in dust. Peeking into the box, she heaved it off the shelf and into Ward's arms.

"SHIELD is my life, Ward. My family is here. Weren't you planning on staying an agent all your life too?" Skye asked as she began to weave through the room again.

"I suppose, but that was before I met someone that I could actually imagine starting a regular life with." Ward confessed and Skye smiled to herself.

"If you really love Trip that much then I'll be more than happy to step aside and let you guys go at it." She wasn't going to lie- there was a time when she had daydreamed about carrying Ward's child and there had been a house and a white picket fence and dinners with the team and a very domestic Ward but that was all it had ever been- a daydream, "I can't leave them, Ward."

Ward was silent and Skye was scared to look in at his face.

"But maybe, someday, when this mess is over, we can find a nice apartment that isn't just a safe house or a house on the beach." She added slowly, reluctant to make any promises she couldn't keep.

"I'd like that." Ward said and Skye could almost hear the smile in his voice as she mentally kicked herself.

Suddenly, Skye heard panicked footsteps echoing down the hallway and she shot Ward a look.

"Skye!" Fitz's accent was heavy as he skidded into view, out of breath and clutching a tablet, "Skye, Coulson needs you- Raina just called his personal line."

"_What? _I thought the line was-?"

"Personal? Yeah, I know but she must have traced the call through one of Coulson's calls to the FBI or CIA or-,"

Ward interrupted, "It doesn't matter right now. We need to get there, now."

At first, Skye thought the box would get in the way of Ward's movements as they sprinted down the hall but then she had to mentally kick herself again. Of course it wouldn't. He was _Grant Ward_ for goodness sakes. Carrying boxes and running was probably a perquisite to his specialist training and somehow, he was still running much faster than her.

"Coulson," Skye gasped as the three of them burst into the Director's office. Coulson, May and the two Avengers were grouped around the phone wear grim expressions as if they were at a dear friend's sickbed, "What happened?"

"It's done." Romanoff spoke, "The meet's been set."

Skye whipped around to face the Director, "What did you do?" She demanded but Coulson refused to meet her eyes, "You have to cancel it." She pleaded, turning to look at May and Steve. When no one responded, she turned imploringly to Ward.

"It's going to be a trap, I _know_ it."

"Sir?" Simmons' timid voice came from the doorway, "Sit, Lance Hunter is at the entrance and I'm afraid Billy is throwing something of a fit."

"I'm coming." Coulson excused himself, still not looking at Skye and brushed past Simmons who threw Skye an apologetic glance before scurrying after Coulson. Steve hurried after Coulson, leaving Skye to stare accusingly at May and Romanoff.

"He'll have plenty of back up. We're not going to be sending him out there on a silver platter." Romanoff assured her but Skye remained unconvinced.

"You saw what he did to me…"

May stepped forward, "There was no talking Coulson out of it. You know he'll do everything he can to keep you safe and if he believes that this a way to do just that then he will do anything in his power to make sure it happens."

"Skye," Ward said quietly but she ignored him.

Romanoff turned to walk out of the office, "There's nothing more we can do than prepare and hope your father doesn't feel a specific need to take his powers out on Coulson."

May also started for the door, "We should go meet this Lance Hunter."

Romanoff waited until May had exited before looking back at Skye, "I think Coulson wants to know everything he can about this GH-325 drug and he thinks your dad will know. You know how people are with getting the information that they want. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you or Coulson." She promised, then threw a look at Ward, "I'm sure your boyfriend won't either."

"Skye," Ward started again but Skye threw off the hand he was extending toward her shoulder.

"Don't, Don't tell me it'll be okay when we both know it won't."

"We should go." He said after a few moments and she led him lead her out of the office.

The team was huddled in the foyer with Steve and an unfamiliar man in the center. He was a deal shorter than Steve but well built while still being lithe. His hair was cut close to his head but he had a fair deal of scruff framing his jaw and chin.

"Lance, this is Skye and Grant Ward." Steve introduced as they approached them.

The newcomer shook both their hands,

"Senator?" He asked Ward as they grasped hands.

"Brother." Ward responded smoothly and Skye looked up at him curiously, anger forgotten.

"Where's Hartley?" Steve asked, bringing the attention away from Ward.

Hunter's gaze hardened minisculely and he picked up his beaten duffel bag, "Dead. Show me my quarters, will you mate?"

Skye was silent as she watched the Captain lead Hunter away.

"He'll be good." Ward commented aimlessly but she knew a lot of thought and observation had been put into his consideration.

"He's something of a mercenary." Romanoff added, "He's dabbled around in SHIELD a bit, but nothing too significant. Probably why he didn't recognize you." She directed the last part at Ward who took it wordlessly.

May crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed, "As long as he can do the job."

**Guys it has been way too long. Seriously. But here it is… I'm also working on a one shot so let me know which you want to see first- the next chapter of IACB or the new Skyeward oneshot (which I think will actually be really long!) **

**Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who is still reading this and hasn't given up hope on me or this story! Happy New Year~**


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